Child of Death- Book 2
by FiFi128
Summary: A year after Voldemort was defeated, a breakout of an illness could signify the beginning of a threat they all hoped had gone forever. Can Fred, George and Bea stop it before the entire wizarding population is wiped out? All rights to the Queen that is JKR. Bianca is my only character.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: New story! This won't make any sense unless you've read book 1 so I would definitely recommend reading that story first. Usually I try to stick to as much canon as I can in my stories but in this one I'm going to have to stray slightly from the plot. please just go with it. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

50 weeks ago, one of the biggest wars in wizarding history had ended. Wizards across the United Kingdom had been freed of their terrors and Lord Voldemort was defeated. For the Weasleys, this meant that their family had all survived and could live safely. Since then, the youngest Weasley child, Ginny, and her boyfriend Harry Potter had found their own apartment near to the Ministry of Magic in central London but the twin boys of the family had definitely been the most busy. They had bought out the shop next to their own on Diagon Alley which they used for storage of hundreds and hundreds of products. This meant they could add a whole second floor to their business just as colourful and fun as the first. They'd even gone to the lengths of adding a 'trick floor' so that every so often when a customer walked over it, it would seem to disappear from underneath them. This led to multiple screams of terror every day as someone thought they would be tumbling through to the room below. They had also gained an extra member in their household. Angelina Johnson had moved in with them recently so that the twins and their respective girlfriends lived together in the flat above the shop. Bianca had made excellent progress in her Healing career and somehow progressed to a level 5, one of the highest qualifications you could get. She had decided to remain at that level for a while so that she could remain on the ward she loved the most with her favourite colleagues, Daisy and Kyle. When she had time off, she helped the boys in the shop, showing customers around and restocking shelves. Mrs Weasley regularly made sure her children came over for celebratory dinners or Sunday roasts as she didn't like being alone in the Burrow all day every day.

Sirius Black had completely redone his old house at Grimmauld place and lived there with his friends Remus and Tonks and their one-year-old son, Teddy. Remus, who was a werewolf, obviously had to leave his family once a month to keep them safe which was why they decided to live with Sirius. He didn't want his wife to be left alone with their baby so regularly for the sake of all of them and, seeing as Sirius preferred company, it seemed like the best option to be all together.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was the latest Minister for Magic and had worked endlessly to combat all after effects of the war. He had teamed up with Professor Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry to plan a memorial event scheduled for exactly one year after the horrific Battle of Hogwarts. It would be taking place on the school grounds and, for that day only, the Hogwarts Express was available for direct transport from London to Hogsmeade. Anyone was welcome to attend and the day was now a national holiday for the wizarding population in respect for those who gave their lives. Despite the ongoing building work on some areas of the castle, the school had reopened in the September but had been finally completed just before the end of 1998. The ghosts of the school declared it was exactly like it had been previous to the destruction which, when published in the Daily Prophet, had made everyone smile. They felt it would be wrong to change anything about the ancient castle so had put their best efforts into keeping it as similar as they could.

Unfortunately, the spring season had bought about a very contagious 'wizard-flu' which was nearly impossible for staff at St. Mungo's Hospital to combat. Young children and older adults were asked to come in regularly for checkups in the hope that they wouldn't be infected by the virus. Countless patients were admitted under the same symptoms so staff had been publicly advising the community of what to look out for in terms of early signs. Sore throats and occasional headaches were some of the first indicators that someone was infected, and these were things which were regularly passed off as a cold or perhaps just the consequence of a hard day at work. It didn't take long, however, for the occasional headaches to become one agonising migrane which was accompanied with nausea, dizziness, fatigue, dangerously high or low temperatures, aching joints, lost voices, lack of appetites or spots across the body that mimicked the muggle illness 'chicken-pox' which were horrifyingly itchy and seemed to suck the colour from the rest of the face. If people weren't cured quickly enough, the little tickling cough they suffered from could often end up as choking up blood. Sometimes, the other infections people caught because of their struggling immune systems could end up as fatal.

Multiple members of staff stayed long term in the hospital because they had caught the infection and figured that they might as well help those also suffering instead of lying in bed at home. For those healers who hadn't caught the illness, they were sent through a series of procedures every night to try and prevent further spread. This involved burning and replacing their robes every day so each time they got dressed for work, it was an entirely new set of clothes. They also had to shower before leaving the building and wash their hands after treating every patient. Visitors weren't allowed anywhere near the ward where infected patients were. They tried to only admit people overnight if they were at serious risk of things becoming more dangerous. People who were declared able of recovering quickly were sent away and told strictly to take the correct medication and be in contact with as few people as possible. After all, the reason it had spread in the first place was presumably because of everyone's renewed sense of community and closeness with each other after the war. Once everyone was safe, the streets and shops were once again crowded with people in such close proximity, it was obvious anything would spread crazily fast. Twelve people had already died because of the disease and hundreds of others infected.

By following protocol, Bianca was, so far, successfully managing to avoid getting the virus but, just in case, she was also avoiding going down to the shop floor where there would be crowds of young children shopping with their parents while their older siblings were at school. Instead, while she wasn't working, she stayed up in the flat cleaning. She would have visited her family, but she didn't want to risk them getting ill either so resorted to finding things to do around the flat or storage next door. Kyle had already come down with the illness but didn't fancy staying at home alone when he was ill so was one of the Healers staying at the hospital until the disease cleared. The outbreak had been everything the Daily Prophet reported for weeks. It looked like the fatality count was going to rise as more and more people came down with it and chose not to act early enough. It also made it more difficult for Healers to help when they themselves were getting infected. Of course this meant indirectly that the whole workforce were being affected and the staff they had left were working more than overtime to combat it.

Five weeks after the original breakout, Bianca got home at half three in the morning and crawled into bed next to Fred. Disturbed by the sudden movement, he rolled over groggily to face her.

"You're late back," he mumbled sleepily, "Where were you?"

"I had to work over time," this was no uncommon thing anymore, "Too many people to look after."

"When's your next shift?"

"Tomorrow," she yawned and sniffled slightly, "Eleven till seven supposedly."

Fred wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled his head into her neck.

"We've got no spare beds anymore," Bianca said, propping herself up to look at him, "The staff are sleeping on the floor in the cafeteria for more room. It's getting out of hand."

"But it's curable," Fred said, "This outbreak isn't going to last forever."

"They're working on a way to distribute the cure to everyone so that if they get ill they don't have to come into St. Mungo's. They're also talking about an immunity potion but at this point I'm not sure it'll be worth it at this point. So many people are sick now."

"We've had to put that Muggle waterless soap around the shop because of all the little kids."

"Waterless soap?"

"Yeah, you squirt it on your hand and rub it in so it kills bacteria and stuff. George and I thought it would be a good idea seeing as the shop's really busy and this thing spreads really fast."

Bianca smiled at the twins' thoughtfulness and lay back down, her throat scratchy from hours of endlessly comforting patients or explaining their diagnosis. Seconds later, she was fast asleep, even though Fred was still talking to her. When he saw that he was now speaking to nobody, Fred smiled and moved one hand so he could run his fingers through her but got slightly concerned when he could feel how warm her forehead was. He chose to hope it was just the warmth of the flat, decided to check up on her properly in the morning and he too allowed himself to drift off again.

Bianca and Fred both got up early the next day and Bea's bright and chipper mood meant Fred immediately forgot that she had shown any signs of illness the night before and they both set about their day as normal. Bianca and Angie spent the morning in Diagon Alley before Bea left her friend to go to work. She met Daisy in the locker room and, as they were both on the team assigned to looking after patients with the flu, headed to the designated ward together where they found Kyle. He, as a lovely greeting, sneezed on both of them, meaning they both had to go and wash their hands again and they all set to work. Thankfully, emergencies were at a minimum and the only accident Bianca had to deal with was when someone in the very late stages of the illness who had finally decided to come in for help collapsed in the foyer. She even managed to get home at the time she'd told the twins she'd get back. Not that they'd ever tell Angie this, but secretly, they all savoured the time they could spend as a three just like how it was when they were growing up.

Unfortunately, on this particular day, Bianca was so exhausted from all the extra hours she'd been doing that as soon as she got into the flat and sat on the sofa, she fell asleep. George had been working on cooking dinner while Fred was doing some paperwork for the shop but both the boys had got up to greet Bianca when she came in and noticed her pale complexion and strained voice.

"You don't think she's caught it, do you?" George asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Fred said, "She works all day with people who are infected."

"You don't sound concerned."

"Well the thing about working in a hospital is that she also has access to the medicine so, if she takes her own advice and takes her medicine like a good girl, she'll be right as rain in a couple of days."

George shrugged, "As long as she decides to actually help herself and not be noble to 'save the medicine for everyone else' or something like that. Because we both know that's exactly the type of thing Bea would do."

"If we think that's happening, I will make sure she takes her doses in front of me so I know."

"I'm just saying we should be careful," George said, "This virus kills people and we don't want to be spreading it around the shop.

"Well don't you two look serious?" Angie said as she came in from work and kicked her shoes off, "What's going on?"

"We think Bianca's got the flu," Fred said sadly.

Angie looked concerned and sat on the sofa next to where Bea was lying, carefully positioning her friend's head in her lap as a comfort.

"I doubt she'll admit it," George said, "Not even to herself, let alone us."

Angelina looked up at Fred, "Are you going to sleep separately?"

"What do you mean?" The paperwork was now completely forgotten.

"Will Bianca sleep in her old room?" she clarified, "I mean, if you get it, then George probably will too and soon every single person who comes into the shop is going to be ill. For the sake of people's safety, should you think about closing the shop for a while?"

"Absolutely not," George said, "People's spirits are low, the whole point of the shop is to cheer people up. That's why we created all those products. If we have to take extra precautions to keep people safe we will. But the shop doesn't stop."

Angie put her hands up in surrender, "Ok. It was just a suggestion."

George finished cooking and started dishing up the food onto four plates, "Ange will you wake Bea up and ask if she wants any food?"

While Angie gently roused Bianca, Fred ran downstairs to put the paperwork away. As it turned out, Bea didn't want to eat as a result of her nausea and blinding headache so George guided her through to her and Fred's room where he closed the curtains and flicked the lights off. After they'd eaten, the twins headed to the hospital to inquire about what they should do. They came across Kyle pretty quickly who, along with everyone else suffering from the flu, had resorted to wearing masks over his nose and mouth.

"It's protocol to be examined before medication is given," he explained, "Potions can be really dangerous if misused so I'm sorry but I can't give you anything to help until Bianca's been seen by a professional. You have to bring her in."

"She can't walk in a straight line," George said, "Or she couldn't when we left- her head hurt so bad that her vision was distorted."

Kyle nodded understandingly but then had to steady himself from a wave of vertigo and dizziness, "We think that's why we're having so much trouble with stopping this spreading. People physically can't come in to get help and then the people looking after the ill get infected too. That's also why we're working on a remedy that isn't dangerous if people aren't sick. The ministry wants to develop that and send it out to everyone on mass."

"Well, knowing her she'll want to come in to work tomorrow so could you make sure she sees someone?" Fred asked after waiting for Kyle to recover from a sudden coughing fit.

"If I'm still on my feet," Kyle joked, but his eyes were tired.

"Thank you," George said genuinely, "We'll be sure to send you some chocolates."

"You know very well I'd never accept chocolate from you. But I know you appreciate it. Now get out of here before you get sick."

As Fred had suspected, Bianca was up at six the next morning to get ready for work. He'd made sure he was awake when she got up to make sure she got to work safely and wasn't too ill to leave the house. Of course, if it had been up to him, he would have kept her at home all day and looked after her but he did appreciate her need to help others in need and also knew she needed to get some healing potions so reluctantly let her go. George had got up early to check up on Bianca too. Once they'd seen her off, they both showered and, being paranoid, did quick checks of each other to make sure they weren't showing any symptoms. Around breakfast time, an owl appeared at their window from their mother informing them that Harry, Ginny, Percy and Mr Weasley had all caught the flu and checking that the four of them were all fine. George responded with the truth but reassured her that Bea would be getting help at work.

"Fred," George said as they headed down to the shop floor, "Has anyone actually recovered from this illness? Like, has anyone been cleared and made a full recovery?"

"Bea's not mentioned it," Fred said, "As far as I can tell, more and more people are getting ill and they can't stop it."

"And not everyone shows the exact same symptoms?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"Because surely, if everyone was getting the same virus, everyone would show the same symptoms. But when we went to see Kyle yesterday, apart from a cough and some nausea he was fine, and he's been ill for weeks."

"And?" Fred asked distractedly as he flicked the lights on.

"Well think about how bad Bianca was after only a few hours. The Prophet's printed a list of symptoms that basically describe any sickness ever. Who's actually taken the time to say that everyone's infected with the same thing and not just assumed that everyone with flu-like symptoms has contracted the same disease?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that something about this is wrong. We're wizards, Fred, we have magic! Why hasn't this been stopped. When you have a cold as a kid, you take a Pepper-Up potion and a few hours later it's like nothing ever happened. What if everyone's getting the same treatment for different viruses and that's why we haven't got anywhere?"

Fred stopped where he was and turned slowly to look at George, "Don't you think it's a very unlikely coincidence that multiple outbreaks of different diseases happen at the same time?"

"Don't _you_ think it's a very unlikely coincidence that these outbreaks happen almost exactly a year after the end of the war?" George retaliated.

"George-"

"If you didn't know there was an outbreak of an illness and you looked at Kyle compared to Bianca, would you think they had the same bug?"

"No, I see what you're saying and I agree, George, but that doesn't mean-"

"I'm just saying something's not right. That's all."

For the rest of the day, the twins were very distracted, thinking about what George had said that morning. Many of their customers asked if they were feeling alright because they were so quiet to which they'd smile effortlessly and respond with a light-hearted joke. When Angie came in, she pressed a hand to both of their foreheads when she noticed something was off. The boys didn't share their concerns with her but assured her that they were both completely fine.

"What time's Bianca meant to be home?" she asked, finally accepting that they were ok.

"Two hours ago," Fred sighed, "She's probably got caught up again. You know how busy it is at the moment."

As it turned out, when Bianca finally fell through the door another three hours later, the situation was much worse than a bit busy.

"We've run out," she said as she hugged Fred, "There's none left."

"Run out of what?"

"Potions. There's not one vial left in the building that contains the correct medicine to combat the flu."

"How is that possible?" George asked incredulously as he handed her a mug of tea.

"I don't know. It shouldn't be. There was no warning of it either. Just very suddenly, they were all gone. Apparently no one was aware because up until a few hours ago, there weren't any more being made. Now there's a desperate search for ingredients from every apothecary in the UK. It's a nightmare."

Fred pulled her onto the sofa, "Mum sent an owl earlier. Harry, Gin, Perce and dad all have it too."

Bianca sighed and put her head in her hands, trying to block out the light which was splitting her head into thousands of pieces. Her migrane had been making it difficult for her to think and see straight all day but the hospital needed everyone they could get to deal with the sudden influx of now very angry patients.

"Do you want something to eat?" Fred asked her quietly.

Bianca shook her head very gently and whispered back, "I just want to go to bed."

Fred helped her stand up, very slowly to avoid her getting dizzy and they moved across the room to their bedroom. Angie and George had already vanished somewhere so Fred could speak before they'd left the living space, "George had a realisation this morning that we thought you might like to hear." He continued to explain what George had said this morning until she was sitting in bed, covers pulled up high to try and stop her shivering.

"So you think this isn't a natural outbreak? Someone caused this?"

"Maybe. We don't know, but we thought at least there'd be a way to see if everyone really was suffering from the same thing which would be a start."

"I suppose. I'll mention it at work tomorrow."

"You aren't going to work tomorrow," Fred said.

"I have a shift. I have to go, people need help."

"No. If George is right, then we don't actually know what's wrong with you. I don't want you catching something else when there are no antidotes about."

"Fred, I am a fully qualified healer, I have to be there to save people. It's my job!"

"Would you not always tell us to put ourselves first? It's not selfish to take a day off for being ill. You're not going to be any help to people if you can't even get out of bed. All I'm suggesting is one day off to get some rest and then if you're feeling better, you can go back in. One day."

Bianca frowned, "Fine. One day. That's it. Then I'm going back in. They need me."

"I know. But I also need you and preferably not when you're ill. George and I can't function without someone to boss us around."

Bianca snorted and patted the bed next to her, signalling for him to come and sit with her for a while, "If you're not scared you'll get sick, that is."

"If that happens, it's just another reason to stay with you all day."

Bianca rolled her eyes then immediately regretted it when she was treated with sharp pains shooting through her head, "Ow," she moaned quietly, leaning forward and putting her head in her hands. Fred easily picked her up and moved her so she was curled across his lap, head on his chest so he could rock her gently.

"I'm not a baby, you know," Bianca half-smiled, "You don't have to rock me to sleep."

"You can't tell me it's not nice though, right?"

"Oh, it's lovely," Bianca mumbled with a slur, "But not necessary in any way."

Fred smirked, "Bea?"

"Hm?"

"Nothing," he counted to five in his head then repeated her name. This time there was no response, just the song of some steady breathing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next few days in the flat were completely insane. The news very quickly got out that there were no healing potions left at the hospital so as more and more people became ill but couldn't do anything about it, the more quiet the streets got and the more chaos the community fell into. Fred was now the only person left living in the building who wasn't ill and recent estimated figured informed them that eighty percent of witches and wizards in London had contracted some variation of the flu. It had also been proven that there were at least four different illnesses spreading which had only caused more disarray. Fred had been forced to close the shop because he couldn't run it on his own and Verity was sick while Lee was busy looking after Katie.

Professor McGonagall had put word in the Daily Prophet that all of the members of staff and the pupils were completely fine but the memorial service which was planned for next week was unfortunately cancelled for the student's safety. St Mungo's was under constant streams of hatred because they couldn't treat any of the diseased patients and had actually stopped admitting people because it put the other patients at risk. They had also banned infected healers from coming into work and their latest published piece of advice was that everyone should stay inside until they could administrate everyone the correct potion to everyone to make them better.

Meanwhile, word from the rest of the family was that as well as Harry, Ginny, Percy and Mr Weasley, Fleur, Ron and Mrs Weasley were now bed-bound, leaving only Fred, Hermione and Bill able to look after everyone. Remus, Tonks and Sirius refused to leave Grimmauld place in fear of Teddy coming into contact with the infection. There wasn't a single story in the prophet other than something about the viruses and teams upon teams of people were doing research and developing antidotes. Unfortunately, the death toll had also risen to nearly thirty and was only expected to continue. It now seemed like the wizarding population was doomed and the disease was unavoidable. Fred constantly kept all the doors in the house open so he could get to anyone who needed something and was desperately trying to do everything he could to help. Secretly, he was very grateful that Bianca would get up every morning to help him even though he would insist she didn't have to.

"It's just a headache," she would respond adamantly, "Besides, I'm a healer."

Fred would then remind her that her headache was so severe that it distorted her vision, meant she was very easily muddled or confused, caused her to regularly lose her balance and had once or twice caused fainting spells that could only be terminated by giving her a sleeping draught.

"Yes, but unlike George and Angie, I am capable of getting out of bed for reasons other than to throw up in the toilet and I'd hate for you to be lonely."

They'd have this conversation every morning and Fred would always give in to her, although never admitting that if she didn't help him, he would be completely lost. Very soon, Fred was pretty sure that he was the only wizard aside from Remus, Tonks and Sirius left in London who wasn't ill. Everything had been closed down. The shops didn't open, the newspaper wasn't published, the Ministry was all but empty and St Mungo's had firmly shut their doors after evicting everyone with the flu from the building to preserve the well-being of their other patients.

And then, just as George had suspected might happen, disaster struck.

Fred and Bianca had just finished their daily argument about whether she was allowed to get up and help him when she had gone for a shower. Fred turned back to the boiling kettle and the pan of eggs on the stove for a while until a silvery light filled the room. This was curious to him as they had firmly closed all the blinds and curtains in the building so as not to blind Bianca when she came into a room. He spun around to see what was unmistakeably his father's patronus hovering above their counter, "There's been a mass breakout," Mr Weasley's strained voice filled the room, "Every Death Eater they had in Azkaban is out."

Fred dropped the frying pan and it landed on his foot with a clatter. He didn't register this, nor did he hear George's concerned voice from the other room. All he could think about was the message he'd just received.

"Fred?" George had hauled himself out of bed and stumbled into the living space to find his twin standing frozen in the middle of the floor with a steaming pan on his foot, "Fred, what's happened?"

Bianca came out of the bathroom, snuggled in a fluffy dressing gown. When her tired eyes fell on George, she cocked her head to the side, "What are you doing up?"

George motioned weakly to Fred, "My incompetent twin dropped a frying pan on his foot and seems to be incapable of picking it up again."

Bianca grabbed her wand, vanished the spilled eggs and gradually bent down to pick the pan up, straightening at an equally slow pace so avoid a head-rush. She replaced it on the stove and put a hand on Fred's shoulder, "What's wrong, Freddie? Are you sick?"

Fred gulped and shook his head numbly, "No," he said, "It's so much worse than that."

The three of them moved into Fred and Bianca's room- the sofas were covered in products Fred had been working on in his spare time- and sat on the bed.

"Dad sent a patronus," Fred began, "There's been a huge breakout at Azkaban. All of the Death Eaters got out."

George's already green face turned white and Bianca grabbed one of each of the twins' hands and gripped them tightly.

"I think you were right, Georgie," Fred continued, "Don't you think it's strange that just as we hit the worst and everyone we know is ill, suddenly there's a breakout? Just when everyone's at their weakest, suddenly this happens."

"It's a bit of a blow that this comes just as we were getting ready to celebrate one year after these people were put away, too," George said, rubbing his head and laying back on the bed.

Bianca cuddled up to him and sighed.

"Oi," Fred said, "Your room's through there. This is my bed."

"It's too far," George moaned, "I want to stay here. Besides," he motioned to Bianca who had already drifted into an uneasy sleep, "She clearly doesn't mind."

Fred rolled his eyes, "If she sits still for more than three seconds anywhere this happens."

"I think most wizards in London have a similar problem," George laughed, "They're either always asleep or always throwing up. I can't believe you've escaped it."

"I still don't know how I've managed," Fred said, then turned his head when there was a call from the living room.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Fred?"

"Is that Lupin?" George asked.

"Two seconds," Fred stepped out of the bedroom and went over to the fireplace where Remus Lupin's head was projected, "Remus? What's wrong?"

"Oh, there you are. I assume you've heard?"

"Oh yeah. We've heard."

"Listen, this is serious. You have to look after each other, especially Bianca. We all remember what happened last time a Death Eater got hold of her and none of you are really safe from their wrath. No one knows why this has happened, but there aren't enough people in good enough condition to fight back. Tonks came down with a sickness this morning so it's looking like it's only a matter of time before Sirius and I get ill too but your mother tells me you haven't got anything yet. Please try your best to stay healthy."

"I can't fight off every Death Eater by myself," Fred scoffed.

"You might have to. I don't know what they're planning but it isn't good and we don't want to make it easier for them."

"It's already easy! We're the only people who can fight!"

"Fred-"

"Does Harry know?"

"Sirius has gone to tell him now. He bought Teddy with him to hopefully lighten the blow."

"Yeah, maybe he won't throw a chair across the room of there's a baby there."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he won't be impressed. Hopefully I'll get my son back in one piece."

"Well thanks for calling, please make sure we get any updates."

"Of course. Look after everyone."

Fred quickly went through to George's room to check on Angie before going back to his room. All three of his roommates had slept peacefully through his conversation with Lupin. Fred had never felt so out of his depth. Every single person he was close to could barely get out of bed because they were so weak. Miraculously, he was completely fine and his day to day life had turned into delivering endless cups of cool water, every so often pressing a damp cloth to their foreheads, pulling blankets tightly around them or just providing some company. That wasn't to mention the vomit he was cleaning up, the coughing fits he helped them through and the gallons of soup he had prepared. He had also stopped in briefly at the Burrow, Shell Cottage, Percy's apartment and Harry and Ginny's flat to make sure everyone was fine there. Therefore, he decided that he deserved some time off and climbed into bed on Bianca's other side.

Over the next few days, Fred began to think he must somehow be immune to the flu. He lived in close proximity to three people who were infected and still, he was completely fine, if a little tired. St Mungo's was completely locked up. The mannequin had been removed from the entrance and the surviving staff and patients were kept inside. Anyone who recovered from whatever they had been admitted for was forced to stay there until the epidemic ended. But apart from those people, Fred was sure that he was the only person still functioning normally. But while he may not have been ill, he was definitely scared. Every morning when he got up, he'd look out of the kitchen window onto the abandoned Diagon Alley. It was much creepier than it had been during the war because every shop was still standing but there was no one there to bring them alive. The bright colours of the store fronts had never looked so dead. The street he'd loved since he was a little boy was now in some post-apocalyptic type state that he couldn't fix by himself. Bianca had stopped getting up in the morning to help him. In fact, the only time any of the three of them moved was to use the bathroom or occasionally meet on the sofa to watch a fun Muggle film together.

On the morning of the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, Fred woke up with a very determined mindset. He got out of bed with a spring in his step, dressed as quietly as he could so as not to wake Bianca and began making his breakfast. While his bacon was frying, he got three glasses of fresh, cold water and delivered them to George, Angie and Bianca. As usual, he quickly checked all of their temperatures and, as usual, wasn't surprised when they were all ridiculously high. After he'd eaten, he tiptoed back to George and gently roused him.

"I'm going out," he whispered.

"What?" George groaned, squinting his eyes.

"I said, I'm going out."

"Where? There's nowhere to go," George pointed out.

"I'll tell you when I get back."

"Why can't you tell me now?"

"Because you'll tell me not to go."

"Are you going by yourself?"

"Who do you suggest I go with?"

George grunted and rolled over so his face was in his pillow, "Don't take too long."

Fred rolled his eyes, glad that George was in no state to argue or even properly comprehend what he had been told. He quickly went to inform Bianca of his outing. She had a much less responsive reaction to George, only nodding her head without even opening her eyes and muttering, "Stay safe. Love you."

Fred grabbed his coat and a set of keys before heading outside so he could apparate.

He appeared on the shore of a small island, a tall, prism shaped building above him. He'd heard stories of people who had tried similar means of getting to the island only to set off every alarm and be arrested themselves but he had figured that the island, like everywhere else, would be abandoned so had decided to take the risk. The exterior didn't look damaged in any way which then meant that the Death Eaters must have either snuck out or been let out. Fred tried to ignore the distant wailing as he walked around the edge of the island, pulling his coat tighter around him to fight off the cold. The screaming was the only sign of any human life anywhere. Feeling decidedly, crept out, Fred apparated away and ended up outside a red telephone box in Muggle London. He stepped inside, told the mysterious voice that he was 'investigating' and collected his name badge.

Every corridor was empty, every office locked and deserted. Deciding his best bet of finding any useful information would be to start 'at the top', so to speak, Fred navigated to Kingsley's office. Naturally, his door was locked and probably protected with multiple charms but he was past the point of caring about people coming for him so very simply kicked the door down. It took a few attempts and many 'bombarda' spells but finally, the door gave in and Fred tumbled into the office. He had planned to go through the recent paperwork on Kinglsey's desk and find out everything he could but he was shocked by a floating face in the fireplace. The man didn't look at all ill, only slightly desperate for someone to answer.

"Hello?" Fred said cautiously.

"Ah, thank goodness. Where is Minister Shacklebolt?"

"He's sick, just like literally everyone else," Fred said, "Who are you?"

"It's really that bad, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Minister told me that this flu thing was bad but if he has it too, I guess he wasn't exaggerating."

"How have you not managed to get it?"

Once again, the strange man ignored Fred's question, "Well, I suppose you must be some sort of assistant or deputy, so I'll tell you and you can pass on a message to the Minister, yes?"

"I'm not-"

The man studied Fred curiously, "Do you know who I am?"

"Not the foggiest," Fred replied honestly.

"I'm the- what is it you call us- 'Muggle' Prime Minister. I need to tell Kingsley that your wizard disease has spread. Someone has just died from symptoms similar to those of your 'wizards flu'. Someone who doesn't have magic."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Fred stared at him in utter disbelief, "You mean Muggles have caught a magical disease?"

"That's exactly what I mean. And since the first fatality, at least twenty others have been diagnosed with the same thing. You've sent the medical labs into complete disarray. They don't know what's going on. I hope you realise we don't have the means to combat this. And it will spread much faster than it did in your community."

"Right yes. Well, the thing is, I would absolutely love to help you, but I am the only wizard in London who isn't lying in bed, sick or dying. And we have just had the biggest ever breakout from our most secure prison which means every person in the country is in danger. So right now, I am nursing my family, trying to stop my business from completely crumbling while also hunting multiple criminals and trying to find out why this epidemic started in the first place. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, Fred, how brave of you, I can't believe everything you must be going through' and I know! It's ridiculous. So I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do to help you until I've sorted the magical community out."

The Prime Minister stared at him, blinked a few times and said slowly, "Listen, just as Minister Shacklebolt was obliged to inform me of the disease, I too am obliged to get back to him with updates. If you genuinely are the only healthy wizard in London, I appreciate that there is nothing you can do. But please let the Minister know."

Fred nodded, "I will."

As soon as the man's face had gone, Fred decided he'd done enough investigating for the day and would come back another time once he had informed Kingsley of the update and managed to explain why he had been snooping around his office.

The first thing he did when he got back to the flat was pop into George's room and let him know he was back. Then, he ran down to the shop, grabbed some parchment, ink and two owls and went back up to the flat where he sat at the kitchen counter, allowing the owls to perch on the windowsill while he composed his letters. They consisted of the same information, but one was addressed to Kinglsey Shacklebolt and the other to Professor McGonagall. He explained how he and George suspected something suspicious might be going on and how he was going to try and sort it out to the best of his ability. He told them what the Muggle Prime Minister has said and that he had a suspicion that he was the only wizard in London left. He asked for any information either of them could supply and any support they could give.

He sent the letters off with the owls and then, just like he'd seen on the Muggle police dramas, started writing up everything he knew. Using the wall of the living space as a board, he pinned up pieces of parchment explaining all the variations of the flu, when the first reported case was, when the Azkaban breakout happened and that day's information of the spread to Muggles. Then, he created a list of things he still needed to find out such as the names of the escaped Death Eaters, where they could be, and how the disease started to begin with. Fred set everything out in a timeline and then added his own suspicions which he had to prove or disprove to the bottom. He spent the rest of the day in front of the wall reading and re-reading every article from the Prophet he had pinned up and annotating everything he could.

In fact, he was so immersed in his work, he completely forgot that there were other people in the building until he heard a crash and a groan. Jumping in surprise, Fred shot to his feet and dashed to George's room where he found George lying on the floor, trying to sit up while Angie was shuffling across the bed to look at her boyfriend.

"What happened?"

"Need water," George grunted, indicating to a smashed glass on the floor next to him and a cut in his hand.

"And you didn't call because?" Fred asked, helping his twin stand and get back into bed.

"I did," George retorted, "But you didn't come. I figured you might be sick so went to get it myself, stood up too fast and next thing I know, I'm staring at the ceiling."

"Sorry," Fred said, performing a quick healing spell to fix George's hand, "I'll get you some water."

"Where were you?" George asked when he came back.

"I was trying to make sense of what's going on. I guess I must have got carried away. Do you need anything, Ange?"

"No thanks," she was looking a George in concern and holding his hand tightly, stifling a cough or sneeze every so often. George, meanwhile was studying his brother, eyes searching for what was clearly bothering him. They shared a silent understanding that Fred would explain when they were in private and left the room, flicking the light off. Realising how late it must be if George had finished his water and waited so long that he'd given up on anyone coming, Fred decided to go and check on Bianca. He found her with the bedside light on reading a book.

"Feeling better?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Absolutely not," Bianca said miserably, "But I couldn't sleep and I was bored so I decided to do some revision."

"Ok, Hermione, what have you done with my girlfriend?"

"Ha ha," Bianca deadpanned, "Very funny. I can't let my standards slip at work just because I've been off for a while. I need to stay on top of everything."

"But can you really focus?"

"Nope. The words look kind of funny and I really have no idea what I'm reading."

"So," Fred moved across the room and gently took hold of the book, "Why don't you put the book away and I'll go and get you a sleeping potion?"

"No, I'm sick of lying here doing nothing."

"Are you tired?"

"Exhausted," she replied honestly, "But Fred-"

"You're sick," he told her, "It's not your fault and there's nothing we can do about it. So, as annoying as it is, and trust me, I know how annoying it is, you're going to just have to try your best to deal with it. Don't force yourself to function normally when you can't."

Bianca sighed, defeated, "Will you stay with me?"

Fred nodded, "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"My head hurts, it's somehow simultaneously too hot and too cold, all my muscles ache and it all feels the need to remind me that I'm ill every five seconds. It's like a constant stream of owls bringing letters telling me that I have a headache or I need an extra blanket or I have too many blankets or I really need a massage and a hot bath."

"Right. So, what we're going to do now is shut the window so the owls can't get in, because something much more important has arrived."

"What's that?"

"Me."

Bianca smirked and rolled her eyes, "Of course."

"Do you want a hot bath?"

Bianca nodded sheepishly.

"Put this on," he tossed a dressing gown at her, "And meet me in the bathroom. Take your time," he added before opening the door to the bathroom and turning on the hot tap on the bath. He locked the door which attached to George and Angie's room and started adding various soothing soaps and nice smelling bubbles to the tub. Bianca shuffled into the room when the bath was about half full, wincing at the bright lights and covering her eyes with her hand.

"Oh, sorry," Fred turned the artificial lights off and conjured some floating spheres which glowed a beautiful golden colour, "Better?"

Bea nodded and perched on the edge of the bath. Fred couldn't help but think about how adorable she looked, so vulnerable and small huddled up in the huge dressing gown. Arms wrapped around herself as a protection from the non-existent cold. He wanted to swaddle her up like a baby and protect her with everything he had. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who needed looking after and the rest of magical London needed saving.

"Fred," Bianca coughed, "The bath's going to overflow."

"Ah!" Fred exclaimed and rushed to swivel the taps off.

Bianca giggled but ended up just spluttering as she choked.

"Ok," Fred rubbed her back soothingly, "Get in carefully. Please don't slip."

Bianca got to her feet unsteadily and fumbled with the knot on the robe belt. Fred stepped forward to help and gently took the dressing gown from her. He hung it on the back of the door and then turned to help her step into the bath. The warmth of the water shocked her slightly and her feet slipped slightly but Fred was there to hold onto her and gently lowered her so she was sitting. Kneeling on the bathroom floor, he scooped up handfuls of water and splashed it on her back, rubbing the soapy suds into her muscles. Bianca sighed, sliding further down into the bath and stretching her legs out so she could relax into his touch. Once she was used to the warmer temperature, Fred helped her wash her hair, massaging shampoo into her scalp with his fingertips. The hot water trickled down her neck, causing a shiver to run up her spine.

She stayed in the bath for about an hour. Fred had charmed the water so that it would stay warm and he sat with her, not saying anything, only keeping her company. When he noticed her eyelids starting to droop, he stood up and grabbed a heated towel.

"Come on," he said, "Time to go back to bed."

"But it's so warm," Bianca moaned, not wanting to get out of the bliss.

"Bed is warm too. There are blankets. And I can give you cuddles."

Bianca scowled, he lips pursed as she considered it.

"Also, it's safe to fall asleep in bed and there is no risk of drowning."

"There's no risk of drowning here because you'll look after me."

"So you don't want cuddles?" Fred feigned a very sad look, pushing out his bottom lip.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean-" Bianca put a hand to her head and lowered her voice, "I want cuddles."

"Out you get then. Slowly."

Once she was standing firmly on the floor, Fred wrapped the towel around her and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Fred."

"Mm?"

"I don't feel well."

Fred looked at her. The colour had completely drained from her face and her eyes, while wide with panic, were glazed over. He just managed to scoop her up before she fell, rushed into their bedroom and deposited her in a seated position on the edge before wrapping the dressing gown around her shoulders and calling her name gently. She swayed slightly and peeled her eyes open, tears already spilling.

"Don't worry," Fred soothed, "It was just the temperature change from hot to cold too fast. You're ok."

Bianca's face took on a green tinge and she leaned over, wheezing. Fred rubbed his forehead and held her hand until she felt better and leaned into him. "Is it cuddle time yet?" she asked weakly.

"Why don't we get some pyjamas on first?" Fred suggested kindly, opening the drawer under the bed and passing her a pair of fuzzy pyjamas. He helped her get changed and then quickly changed himself before sliding into bed with Bianca, pulling her so that she was sitting across his lap.

"Where did you go today?" she mumbled.

"I'll tell you in the morning," he said into her hair which he had dried with a quick wave of his wand and then tried his best to tie up for her, "Something tells me you're not really paying much attention right now."

"Hmm, good idea," she said drowsily with a nod, "Did you have fun?"

"Not really. It was more educational than for leisure."

"Oh," she looked genuinely saddened by this, "That's a shame."

Fred smirked, "Maybe all this time it's not actually been medicine that makes you loopy. Is it just your natural sleepy state?"

"Hey!"

"What?"

"I don't know," she wined.

Fred chuckled but his face fell as she said, "I'm scared, Freddie. They're going to come and find me. They're going to kill everyone and they'll come for us first and then Harry. But we can't do anything about it because I'm sick and George is sick and everyone's sick and-"

"Listen to me Bianca. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, ok? I've seen you put in danger enough times now and Merlin knows I'm never letting anyone do anything to George either. You're safe with us and I promise I'm going to figure out what's going on."

"They tell me he's going to come back," she whimpered, "In my dreams. They say they're bringing him back."

Fred froze, his heart skipping a beat, not wanting to admit to himself what she meant by that, "But that's impossible."

"I don't want him to come back."

"Harry killed him, remember?"

Bianca nodded slowly and buried her head into Fred's jumper. They sat together peacefully for a few minutes until they heard a faint banging, followed by urgent footsteps. Suddenly, George was standing in their doorway, hand over him mouth and face a lovely shade of green. He stumbled into the bathroom and leant over the toilet, wretching and coughing extensively.

Fred sighed and slipped out of bed, smiling reassuringly at Bianca who looked deeply concerned. He joined his brother, already holding a glass of water for him.

"This sucks," George sighed, resting his head on his arm.

"Yeah," Fred agreed, "It does."

"Why was the door locked?"

"Bianca was having a bath," Fred shrugged, "I figured she wouldn't want to be disturbed by someone running in to spew their guts up. Not really the calming atmosphere we were going for."

"And you didn't unlock it because?"

"I was looking after Bea. She got out of the bath too fast and fainted. I forgot."

"Well thank Merlin I got here in time and didn't decorate the flat with my-"

"No! Stop. That's not an image I need."

"I'm just trying to make sure you unlock the door next time."

"Ok, point taken, I'll unlock the door. Sorry."

George nodded and then turned back to the toilet to empty whatever was left in his stomach into the bowl. Fred escorted his twin back to bed, quickly checked on Angie, then returned to Bianca who was still sitting up, very alert. "Is he ok?" she demanded immediately, any sense of relaxation gone.

"Fine. Or as fine as he can be, considering."

"Good," she sighed.

"Honestly, Bea. I don't know how you do this every day," Fred yawned.

"Do what?"

"Look after people. Heal them, care for them, treat them. Deal with all the stress and constant worry that something awful might happen."

"I'm trained to," she coughed, "It's my job."

"That doesn't make it any less stressful."

"Well, think about it. You grew up pranking and joking. You've always looked at life from a positive side and never worried about the consequences. I, however, grew up with you and always had to think about what to do if something went wrong. It's natural for me to look after people but for you, it's not. It's just not who you are."

"I like it better when you're delirious and don't make any sense," Fred decided, "It's much more entertaining."

Fred had decided that getting her to rest was a hopeless task and, despite how miserable she was feeling, Bianca wouldn't be able to get to sleep. He had a suspicion that this was partially due to the nightmares she'd been having about the return of her father or the escape of the Death Eaters, even though she'd told him that it was just because she felt so rotten. However, he also knew that he didn't want to be dealing with her suffering from exhaustion on top of everything else and she definitely wouldn't take a sleeping draught so decided to deploy Plan B.

He yawned widely and stretched up, looking at his watch on his wrist, "It's late," he said, raising his eyebrows as if he was surprised. Bianca nodded and sat back, moving along to make room for him, "Come on, Doctor Weasley. You've been working hard. Time for some beauty rest."

"Maybe I should check on George first. Make sure that he's-"

"George is a big boy, he can look after himself."

"As long as you keep the bathroom door open!" George called from the other room.

Fred smirked tiredly, shocked by how exhausted he actually felt now that he'd stopped playing healer for everyone. Bianca raised her eyebrow and beckoned him forward, taking his hand when he was close enough for her to pull him down onto the bed. He flopped forward onto his stomach, face buried in the pillow and Bianca lay next to him, her head on his back, arm wrapped around him and hand on his hip. Both of them were fast asleep within seconds and George had to unsteadily make his way through to turn the light off and throw the blanket over them with a soft smile.

All four of them slept way into the next afternoon and were only awoken when the sun was setting. Fred opened his eyes to feel Bianca playing with his hair lovingly.

"Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded. "Do you want anything?" he offered, before glancing at the bedside table where there were two full glasses of water. Fred frowned before excusing himself and tip-toeing through the bathroom to see George and Angie. They were both sitting up, surrounded by tissues. George had pulled all the blankets towards him and was huddled up as he shivered while Angie was fanning herself desperately, fever soaring.

"Did you get fresh water?" Fred asked.

"No," Angie said as George was preoccupied with a horribly sore throat which meant he could only croak.

"Where did it come from, then?"

He went into the kitchen where he was very surprised to find Mrs Weasley at the kitchen counter, sipping a mug of lemon tea.

"Mum? What are you doing here?"

"Fred!" she jumped and turned to look at her son. He tried not to notice her pale face or the bags under her eyes.

"Oh, I just felt so bad about not seeing any of you," she explained wrapping him in a hug, "I just had to come and check on everyone. I went to Ginny and Harry yesterday and Percy the day before. I just think someone has to be here for you all."

"Mum, you don't need to do that," he said kindly, "I've been looking after everyone here."

"You?"

"Yes, mum," Fred replied patiently, "I'm not sick, remember?"

"Oh, of course, I'm so silly."

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?" he suggested, "How long have you been here?"

"I got here this morning."

Fred glanced at the clock, surprised to see it was nearly five o clock, "But what have you been doing all day? No one knew you were here!"

"You all looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. So I cleaned for a while, and then some letters came so I looked after the owls. And of course I went to check on you a few times. Oh, Fred? What's this?" she pointed at the wall where he'd pinned up everything he knew.

"I'm just trying to make sense of everything," he lied easily, "How is everyone at home?"

"No change, really. Are there really three different sicknesses?" She powered on, not allowing him to change the subject.

"Four, I think," Fred said, "I've asked everyone I know to explain their symptoms so I can narrow it down. So far, there's one like Bianca has which is headaches, sore muscles and fainting spells. George has more of a cold combined with severe nausea and then Angie has a fever and dizziness."

"What's the fourth?"

"Lee said he and Katie both have really bad short-term memories, get regular nosebleeds and spend most of their day vomiting in the toilet."

Mrs Weasley pulled a bloody handkerchief out of her sleeve, "That sounds like what I've got."

Fred nodded solemnly, "I'm working on it mum, I promise. But for now, go home and see to everyone else. I've got things covered here."

"I'll just go and say goodbye to everyone."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Once Mrs Weasley had gone back to the Burrow, he decided that the next day, he would go back to the Ministry and look around Kingsley's office properly. It was too late to go anywhere that night and he had work to do for the shop so asked him housemates if they wanted anything to eat, carried Bianca out to the sofa so she could watch a Muggle movie and began cooking himself some dinner. Bea had been complaining that she wanted to keep him company so he had said she could sit with him while he worked. Once he'd finished the paperwork and owl orders for the shop, he joined her on the sofa for a while and then washed up his dishes. Bianca was looking at the wall where he'd written everything up, "It's spread to muggles?" she asked horrified.

Fred nodded solemnly, "When I went out the other day, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the Ministry and see what I could I find, seeing as I'm the only person who can actually do anything about this problem. When I went to Kingsley's office, there was a man's head in the fireplace."

"You broke into Kingsley's office?"

"I don't have many choices left," he defended, "Anyway so this man was the Muggle Prime Minister. He wanted to speak to Kingsley but he's obviously not available so I took the message. Muggles have died because of our disease. I'm going back tomorrow to see what else I can find."

"Don't go by yourself," Bianca said immediately, "It's not safe with the Death Eaters around."

"Bea, I went by myself last time, I was fine."

"But last time I was too tired to talk you out of it."

"There's no one to go with me," Fred said, "Unless you want me to take one of the pygmy puffs?"

"Freddie, please, don't go."

"Bianca, I don't know how high the death toll is but it's already too big. I am the only person in London who can help. Oh!" he suddenly remembered the letters which had been delivered and headed back to the kitchen counter where Mrs Weasley had left them. He opened the one from Kingsley first and was relieved to learn that the Minister was not in the least bit annoyed about Fred getting into his office. In fact, he was glad that there was someone taking action to fight back. He also explained that he was concerned about the spread of the flu to Muggles but told Fred not to worry himself with things he couldn't deal with. McGonagall's letter explained that she wanted to meet with Fred to discuss everything properly and Fred replied immediately, proposing that she should go to the Ministry the next day to speak with him. He didn't openly admit how out of his depth he felt, but was fairly sure it came across in his letter.

"Who are you writing to?" George asked, leaning heavily on the doorframe as he emerged from his room.

"McGonagall. She wants to help me," Fred looked at his brother, "You got up for a reason that wasn't to throw up. Are you feeling better?"

"Nope," George snorted, "But I was concerned about my favourite twin."

"Why?"

"The only time I've seen you today was when you came in to demand where your glass of water came from. And mum was here. I was worried you might finally have succumbed to a sickness."

"Me?" Fred laughed, "I seem to be invincible."

"Where have you been all day, then?"

"I slept in. Epically."

George smirked, "I think it might be bedtime again."

Fred raised his eyebrows then followed George's amused eyes to the sofa where Bianca had fallen asleep, body half hanging off the sofa, lips slightly parted. He quickly rushed over and repositioned her limp frame so that she wasn't going to fall and sighed.

"I know it's not your fault," Fred said, "But this is getting really annoying. I'm so sick of worrying and running around making sure everyone's still alive and picking people up when they pass out in random places or cleaning up their sick or avoiding sneezes like they're curses. Surly any normal sicknesses would have passed by now, medicine or not."

"As someone who is passing out, being sick and sneezing on a regular basis, I can reliably inform you that it's just as annoying for us. But you're right. Nobody's getting any better and it's taking so much out of us that it's not going to end well."

"Unless somehow I manage to fix it," Fred finished.

"Exactly."

"By myself."

"No. I want to help."

"George-"

"I've got flu, not the plague. And I'm definitely not going to let you go out on missions by yourself where I don't know where you are or what you're doing. We agreed we'd stay together, right?"

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Fred said.

"Something already has happened! And if you don't let me help you, we're pretty quickly going to end up in another war."

"Ok," Fred agreed reluctantly, "I know what it feels like when people are trying to stop you doing something because you're ill. But please tell me if you need anything."

"Fine. What's the plan, then?"

"I'm-"

"We're," George corrected.

"We're going to the Ministry tomorrow morning to see what else we can find about this flu and also to meet McGonagall. Maybe it would be better if I met her alone while you do some more research, though."

"Why?"

"Because if she comes into contact with the virus, suddenly all of the students at the school will get it too and that's the last thing we need. The staff are the only people left that we can rely on for help."

"Do you not think her coming to London is risky enough? Every surface in the city is probably infected by now, whether I'm there or not isn't going to make a difference."

The next morning, Fred still tried to convince George once again to stay at the flat, if only to look after the girls.

"Look," George carried Angie through to Fred's room and placed her on the bed next to Bianca, "They can look after each other. They have everything they could possibly need, including their wands, just in case. We won't be long, they'll be fine. Won't you?"

Angie nodded but Bianca just glared at them both.

"I know you don't want us to go Bea," Fred said, "But we'll be ok. And it's either this or we all get killed during whatever the Death Eaters are planning. I think us leaving for a few hours is probably the preferred option, right?"

Bianca turned her head away.

"Fine," Fred said with a shake of his head, "Huff at us. You'll be calling us heroes soon anyway." He leant forward and kissed her cheek, causing her to blush and almost smile before remembering she was meant to be annoyed. Fred chuckled and George pecked Bianca's forehead after saying goodbye to Angelina.

"I'm annoyed at you too," Bianca scowled at George.

"I know."

The twins Flooed directly into the Ministry, Fred holding his wand out in front of him just in case. George took a few minutes to recover from the journey, just managing to wheeze how badly his head was spinning before vomiting over a pair of shoes belonging to someone who had just joined them in the foyer.

"Mr Weasley, I was not aware you would be bringing your brother."

"Professor McGonagall!" Fred held George's shoulder steady and quickly waved his wand to vanish the offending sick, "I am so sorry."

"I'm sure it couldn't be helped."

George raised his hand in apology and looked at his old teacher, a green tint in his cheeks, "Sorry, Professor."

"Perhaps," she said, "I might have been wise if you had stayed at home?"

"I couldn't let Fred go out alone again given the breakout," George mumbled, "I didn't want anything to happen to him."

"Well then maybe a nice walk in the fresh air would have been a better alternative?"

"That doesn't matter now," Fred cut in, "Maybe we should head to the Minister's office."

George lagged behind slightly as they made their way through the corridors and Fred was forced to keep turning around to make sure his brother was there.

"I am very well informed of what has been going on," McGonagall started when they were seated in Kingsley's office, "A few of those who have lost their lives have been related somehow to a student at Hogwarts. I felt it was important be aware of everything."

"Professor do you know what they symptoms were of those who died were. I want to see if there is one specific strain of the flu which is deadly. As I explained in my letter, there are, I believe, four different variations of the flu going around."

"So you wanted to see if one in particular was more dangerous?"

Fred nodded.

"The first person to die happened to be the parent of one of my students," McGonagall said sadly, "Naturally the girl wanted to know exactly how her mother died. I believe the healer we spoke to mentioned that before her death, the woman had suffered from headaches, frequent episodes in which she would collapse and sore muscles. One day her body shut down and, unlike her other fainting spells, she did not recover."

Fred closed his eyes and winced, trying to ignore that those were the same symptoms Bianca had, "Was there anything else?"

McGonagall nodded solemnly, "She had an unnaturally high temperature and regular dizziness."

Fred frowned, glancing at George, "From what I know which, granted, isn't very much, that sounds like a combination of two different illnesses."

"Wait," George said, "So what you're saying is that we're safe unless we get infected with separate viruses at the same time?"

"We can't be sure of that from one example," Fred said, "But headaches and sore muscles- that's what Bianca has. But a fever and dizziness is more like Angie's. Neither of them have shown any signs of having all of those symptoms combined but they've been ill for weeks and are still alive. This woman had both and died pretty quickly. I'd need to know more about the others who died to be sure but it sound like one disease by itself is nothing more than annoying."

McGonagall studied Fred, mulling over his theory, "But if that were the case, how have so many people become ill but very few have lost their lives?"

"Also," George said, "Angie, Bea and I are all sick with different things but we live in the same house. Ange and I spend all day next to each other but we haven't given each other our sicknesses. Why?"

Fred frowned, silent for a few moments, "Maybe," he said suddenly, "They aren't spread by human contact. Think about it."

He stood up excitedly and grabbed a quill and spare piece of parchment from the desk before positioning it so that everyone could see. "You remember Hartley, right? He was a Death Eater, but no one even suspected him until he decided to kidnap Bea."

"Fred," George creased his brow, "That was last year."

"I know, but what I'm saying is all it takes is one person to stay uncaught. One Death Eater to remain hidden amongst everyone. Nobody would know that they weren't like them, that they fought for You-Know-Who. Surely the Ministry couldn't have possibly arrested every single follower. There were too many, it's impossible. So, let's say one person gets away with it, right? Then, still being loyal to the Dark Lord or whatever, they develop four different potions." He drew a little stick man on the parchment with a frowny face and then four lines coming from it. "One potion makes people dizzy and gives them uncontrollable fevers," he jotted down the symptoms under one of the lines, "Another causes headaches, sore muscles and fainting. Then there's one that gives the victim a cold and nausea and finally, the fourth potion leads to memory loss, vomiting and nosebleeds. Four different illnesses each with seemingly unconnected symptoms so that no one would possibly think there were multiple diseases. After all, who has ever thought of a flu that only leads to vomiting and nosebleeds? It's not normal. A mass breakout of all four would make healers think in the chaos that it's just different people responding in different ways. We know sicknesses can be triggered- think about the Skiving Snackboxes."

"So you think someone is handing out unhealable Fever Fudge?" George asked.

Fred rolled his eyes, "Essentially. It makes sense- all they have to do it get the sweets or potions secretly into circulation and then, once everyone is stuck at home sick, they just have to sneak off and release their little friends from Azkaban."

"And the people who died have done the equivalent of taking a Fever Fudge and a Nosebleed Nougat?"

"Exactly. It's the combination of two different things."

"But how on Earth would someone manage to circulate four different potions, whatever form they may be in, so effectively?" McGonagall asked.

"They'd have to spike something everyone eats, drinks or touches," Fred speculated.

"Except you," George said.

"What?"

"You haven't got anything," George reminded him, "So we're looking for something every wizard and even a few muggles would come into contact with, but not anything you go anywhere near."

"Something else to consider," McGonagall continued, "Is why they'd do such a thing. Their intention was clearly not to kill- not yet anyway- only to weaken."

"Ok," Fred said, "My idea has a few flaws, but it makes sense at least. And if we can find how they spread it and why, then we've cracked it! Unless," his face fell, "Bianca told me the other night that she's been having strange dreams. She said the Death Eaters are telling her that they're bringing You Know Who back."

"Impossible," McGonagall said immediately while George just looked shocked.

"That's what I thought," Fred agreed, "It's why I never told George. But what if that's what's really going on. As far as the Death Eaters are concerned, there is no one left to fight back anymore. The whole wizarding population is weakened- it's the perfect opportunity to do some dark magic and bring back-"

"But Mr Weasley, Voldemort is dead," McGonagall said firmly, "Potter made quite sure of that."

"Unless he didn't," Fred muttered, his voice covered by George's sudden coughing fit. A few minutes later when he had recovered, all three of them were horrified to see specks of blood on his handkerchief.

"Maybe we should get you home now, Georgie," Fred spoke as calmly as he could but froze when he heard more voices from down the corridor, "Death Eaters," he whispered, the evil tone of the new voices unmistakable.

"Time to go!" George said, "It was lovely to see you Professor, we'll be in touch."

McGonagall was staring out the door, panic in her eyes, "I will speak to my staff, tell them what we have discussed and see if they have any suggestions," she hurried to the fireplace, "Please do manage to get out of here before they arrive." And she was gone.

The oncoming voices were uncomfortably loud now as the twins crammed into the small space. Just as Fred was calling their address, three angry faces appeared in the door, wands raised.

The boys spilled out into their living room, breathing heavily. George was on his knees, desperately trying to keep the contents of his stomach inside while Fred stood up immediately and went over to his wall of information.

"They saws us," he mumbled, "They know that we were there."

"We didn't have time to identify them, though," George pointed out weakly, "They might not have known who we were."

"George," Fred said, turning around slowly, "I left the notes on the desk. Not only do they know we were there. But they also know that we're trying to figure out what's going on."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Fred had been in hysterics since the twins had got back from the Ministry. He had given George a potion to soothe his sore throat and helped his brother get to bed then very quickly checked on the girls who were both deeply asleep in each other's arms. He decided to leave them as they were firstly because any movement could disturb either of them, secondly because he doubted Angie wanted to be kept up by George's violent coughing but mostly because he wasn't planning on using the bed himself any time soon. Then, he sat down in front of the wall, a new sense of urgency running through him as he wrote up his theory and all of the new information he had. He'd had been staring at list of things in front of him which were all possible ways for the diseases to have been spread if his idea proved to be right. He hadn't moved for hours, desperately trying to think of anything he could have missed or jotting down ways of getting infected. One piece of parchment only read, 'Inhale, Eat, Touch, Inject,' as he couldn't think of any other way for something to spread. He had then crossed out 'inject' as he decided there wasn't a way for that to happen without people noticing.

At one point, George had surfaced to check how he was doing and was reading over the ways of distributing the potions containing the viruses.

They had already discussed and ruled out the possibility of it being in the water supplies or in some sort of food.

"The air?" George had cried incredulously at one point, "You realise that makes no sense?"

Fred shrugged, "Everyone breathes."

"Were you really thinking or just writing random stuff down to seem productive? I mean, 'the Daily Prophet' how in Merlin's name did you come up with that?"

"Well, if the Death Eater developed this potion or powder or whatever it is that contains the virus, and has the opportunity to get at the newspaper, all they'd have to do is sprinkle their concoction over the pages and then whoever touched it would have the disease on their hands. All it would take would be for them to eat without washing their hands or maybe rub their face for it to get inside them."

"I mean, it's a clever solution," George said, "But it's very far-fetched."

"Does is not need to be something difficult to figure out?" Fred challenged, "But it is just an idea."

George stayed for a while, looking over all of Fred's notes and adding a few ideas of his own. "Will you be going back to the Ministry?" he asked.

Fred shook his head, "It's not safe now they know we were there. The office is probably booby-trapped by now. I will go and see Harry at some point though."

"Harry? Why?"

"To ask what he knows about Voldemort's death."

"You really think they're trying to bring him back?"

"Bea hasn't had nightmares since she got over the ones from the war last year," Fred said, "Now suddenly she's getting dreams again?"

"She might just be scared by the prospect of the people who want her dead most in the world being free to come and find her," George suggested.

"Maybe. I'll ask her if she's had any more. We shouldn't rule anything out, right?"

"Right," George stood up, sneezing into the crook of his elbow a few times, "Are you planning on sleeping at any point today?"

Fred shrugged, "Once I've figured this out."

George raised his eyebrow, "You want to work out every tiny detail of this situation tonight?"

"As much as I can," Fred mumbled, already distracted by his notes again.

Not having the energy to argue, George sighed and said, "Well I'm going to go and have some cuddle time with my two favourite girls and leave you to it."

"Ok."

George stepped into Fred's room and squeezed himself in between the girls. Bianca didn't even stir but Angelina opened her eyes groggily, "Georgie?"

"Hey, gorgeous, how are you feeling?"

"The same," she mumbled sadly, "Did you find anything useful?"

George nodded, kissing Angie on the top of the head and wrapping his arm around Bianca. He took his girlfriend's hand lovingly, "Freddie's working so hard to figure everything out. We'll all be fine before you even know it."

"I'm worried about Bea."

"It's alright. Fred won't let anything happen to her."

"No, I don't mean the Death Eaters, although obviously that's bad too. But you left just before lunch this morning and we stayed up together for a while chatting. She kept rubbing her head and couldn't really look at anything straight. Her eyes were all glossed over and unfocused. So I suggested we get some sleep and," Angie looked at George, "She hasn't moved since. Not even twitched. I've never seen anyone in such a deep sleep, especially knowing how Bianca's usually ready jump up and help anyone at any time. I checked on her every once in a while, just in case… you know."

"And she's fine?"

"Seemingly."

"Well we all know she has a headache," George reasoned, "That's probably why she couldn't focus- it'll just be exhausting for her. But I'll tell Fred and he'll keep an eye on her."

"Are we staying in here?"

"Can you be bothered to move?"

"No, but what about Fred?"

"He'll be fine. I don't think he's planning on coming to bed for a while."

The next morning, George found his brother sprawled on the living room floor, covered in parchment and quill still in his hand.

"I think your ink's dried up," he called loudly and Fred shot up, shocked by his brother's sudden shouting.

George laughed, "Did you not fancy coming to bed last night?"

"My bed was taken," Fred shrugged, "There weren't many options left."

"There are three bedrooms in this flat," George deadpanned, "And you are right next to a perfectly good sofa."

"It was late," Fred grinned, "I didn't think of that."

"Yeah, because the only thing you're thinking about at the minute is this stupid epidemic."

"Actually, right now, I'm thinking about breakfast. Do you want some?"

George shook his head, "I'll ask the girls, though."

He returned to Fred's bedroom, stopping on the way to sneeze several times. He was surprised to only find Angie in the bed, tucked up in the duvet, hugging herself for warmth.

"Where's Bea?" George asked, moving to the side as Fred came in with fresh sheets and water.

"Shower," Angie replied shortly.

"So she's not dead!"

"Why would she be dead?" Fred asked, helping Angelina into a nearby chair so he could change the sheets on the bed.

"She was asleep for ages yesterday," George explained, "She didn't even move or twitch."

"I swear that girl has spent way more than half of her life ill or injured. She's knocked out or unconscious more than she's awake. It's normal by this point."

"But that doesn't mean you don't constantly worry about her," Angie teased.

"I think that's warranted baring in mind how much trouble she gets into."

"Who gets into trouble?" The bathroom door opened and Bianca appeared, rubbing her head.

"Ah, speak of the devil," George joked with a sniffle.

"I was just saying how prone you are to getting into trouble," Fred explained as he charmed the covers to make the bed and checked Bianca's temperature.

"What can I say? It's a talent."

"Right," Fred sighed, "Does anyone want anything to eat or are you all still on a food strike?"

George laughed, "I think our appetites ran away when they heard about the flu."

"I'm just saying you're going to have to eat something other than soup at some point."

"By all means give us some solid food if you want it to end up in the toilet later instead of in our stomachs," Angie said sarcastically.

"Mum would never forgive me if you all starved to death," Fred said, "I'm going to see Harry." He looked at George, "You coming?"

"Not today. I figure you'll be safe with Boy Wonder and our sister."

"Right. I won't be long. Everyone, behave."

He Flooed directly into his sister's flat and called out only to hear a soft groan as a response. He made his way through to the master bedroom where he found Ginny sitting up and sniffing, blowing her nose into a tissue while Harry slept next to her, curled up in a ball.

"Good morning dear sister," Fred said cheerfully.

Ginny grunted in response.

"Lovely to see you too. How are you today?"

"What do you want?" she asked grumpily.

"I was hoping to speak to your lovely boyfriend," Fred explained, "But I can wait for him to wake up."

Ginny reached across the bed and poked Harry in the ribs until he groaned and rolled over.

"You have a visitor," Ginny told him, her voice distorted by her sore throat.

"Fred?"

"Hi, mate. Sorry about waking you up, I was happy to wait but my lovely sister insisted."

"You're too loud and annoying to stay here too long," Ginny defended, "I want you gone as soon as possible."

"Right," Harry sat up groggily and put his glasses on, "How can I help?"

"I just wanted to ask you a few things," Fred said, "If you're up to it."

"Yeah sure," Harry groaned, "Let me just-"

He shot to his feet and ran out of the room to the bathroom. A few seconds later, they could hear wheezing and spluttering, a noise they had got used to over the past few weeks. When he returned, his glasses were squiffy and he was slightly green.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "What did you want to ask?"

"I was just wondering what you could tell me about how Voldemort died."

Harry stared at him in horror and Ginny started coughing in surprise. "What?" she choked, "Why?"

"I assume you know about the breakout from Azkaban? Well, we have a theory that the Death Eaters might be trying to bring him back."

He quickly explained all his theories and Harry listened in horror, his head in his hands.

When Fred finished, Ginny was staring at him like he was insane and Harry paused before saying, "I mean, it all makes sense, except-"

"You killed Voldemort over a year ago," Fred finished, "Exactly. So, could you possibly take me through how you killed him?"

Harry told Fred all about the horcruxes and how he'd destroyed them so that when they'd duelled, Harry could kill him easily.

"And you used Expelliarmus?"

"I guess it was his own rebounded curse that killed him, not mine."

"Is there any chance he could have made more Horcruxes?"

"If he had, I wouldn't have been able to kill him to begin with. I would have died."

"What about the resurrection stone?"

"I threw it away in the forest. I doubt anyone could have found it, even if they knew what I'd done."

"Could they have summoned it if they were in the right area?"

"With accio? I suppose so, but no one was there. They couldn't possibly know what I'd done."

"Right. Well, I'll let you go back to sleep."

"I'll be happy to help if you have any more questions. Let me know what you find out."

"I will do, thanks for helping."

"Now leave," Ginny demanded, "You're loud."

"Ok, I'll see you later. Get well soon."

Ginny swore at him and Fred retreated to the fireplace and returned home where he planned to write up everything he'd found out from Harry. Unfortunately, that didn't quite work out as planned because when he arrived at the flat, he was met with the sight of George's legs poking out of the bedroom. Assuming his illness might have just overcome his brother, Fred sighed and rushed over, but when he saw that the bed was empty, he panicked slightly. When George didn't stir after Fred called his name a few times, he got out his was and said, "Rennervate."

George groaned and sat up, looking at Fred in confusion.

"What happened?" Fred demanded as soon as his twin's eyes were open, "Are you ok?"

"The girls!" George suddenly shouted, jumping up and running around the flat.

"George!" Fred stood up, "What's going on?"

"They took them!" George shouted, "Bianca? Angie?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Death Eaters!" George frantically flung open every door and then ran down the stairs to the shop floor.

"George!" Fred grabbed his brother by the shoulders and stopped him moving, "Tell me what's going on."

"They broke in," George sighed, "I was in the bathroom having a shower, and all the alarms went off so I went out into the kitchen but by the time I got there they'd already got into the bedroom and had the girls. There was nothing I could do, Fred, my wand was on the other side of the room and there were three of them. It was too easy- they just stunned me and-"

"So they're gone?"

George nodded and Fred leant back against the tills. George sat on the floor, allowing his lungs to recover from the rapid searching as he coughed a few times.

"What do we do?"

"We'll go to the Ministry," Fred said, "We know the Death Eaters have been there so they might have taken them there."

"Should we tell anyone?"

"What's the point? They can't help."

"What about McGonagall?"

"She has an entire school full of people to look after and currently bust trying to figure out whether or not to send the kids home for summer or not."

"Fine. We'll go to the Ministry."

"Just be aware it might be a trap. They know we've been there and might be trying to take us out," Fred said wisely.

The twins Flooed to the Ministry foyer, wands raised from the moment they arrived. Very slowly, they made their way around every single floor, opening every door and checking every room in the entire building. They were there for hours, searching desperately for any sign of either of the girls. They left, very disappointed and concerned and, most importantly, without Bianca or Angelina.

"Now what?" George coughed tiredly as they sank onto the sofa.

"I don't know," Fred felt utterly helpless.

The twins sat in silence until George's head drooped back and he started snoring gently, his breathing congested by his cold. Fred rubbed his eyes and picked up a piece of parchment. On it, he wrote the date and then everything Harry had told him. Finally, he scribbled, 'Girls kidnapped.' He sat back next to George, desperately worried but undeniably tired.

He woke after his nap to find an owl sitting on his arm, a letter tied to its leg. Fred yawned, took the letter and stoked the owl.

"George," he elbowed his brother in the ribs to stir him, "George, we have to go."

"Whas goon on?" George slurred.

"We have to go to Hogwarts. McGonagall just sent a letter. She says Angie's there."

George shot up and practically ran to the fireplace. A matter of moments later, they were in the Headmistress' office and McGonagall was standing in front of them, "One of the students found her wondering around the grounds, very confused and scared. Thankfully, they were one of our older students so recognised her and bought her straight to Madame Pomfrey."

"Was she injured?"

"Just very disorientated."

"Can we see her?" George asked.

McGonagall nodded, "But I was hoping you'd be able to tell me why Miss Johnson was so far from the flat given her current state."

Fred quickly explained what had happened at the flat while George tapped his foot impatiently, sneezing or sniffling every so often.

"We searched the Ministry and couldn't find anything. We had no idea where either of them were until you sent an owl. We still don't know where Bea is."

"Right," McGonagall considered this for a while, "Well, I'll take you to Miss Johnson."

The second he saw her, George ran over to Angie, sitting next to her on the bed and wrapping his arm around her. Fred wasn't even a second behind him, immediately asking if she was ok. There were tears streaming down her face as she looked up at the twins, but her eyes were slightly glassy.

"Poppy gave her a calming draught," McGonagall explained, "Miss Johnson was quite upset."

"What happened, gorgeous?" George asked gently, "What did they do?"

Angie raised her head and looked at the twins, visibly relaxing now that they were with her.

"They took us to Malfoy's house," she sniffled, "They didn't know what to do with us for a while but then they took Bianca away and they asked me a few questions and bought me here."

"They still have Bea?" Fred asked, his heart sinking.

"I assume so."

"What did they ask you?"

"What you two knew about what's going on. They asked if you were sick because they were so suspicious about why you were at the Ministry. I told them you were- I didn't want them coming after you."

"Why did they bring you here, though?" Fred asked, "Why not back to the shop?"

"I don't know."

They sat silently for a while, comforting Angie until a sixth year student came in, coughing and spluttering.

"Miss Harewood?" McGonagall stood up and Madame Pomfrey bustled over. Angie looked up and smiled at the girl warmly.

"I was wondering if I could have a Pepper-Up potion," the girl said, "I don't feel too well."

"Yes, have a seat."

"How are you?" the girl asked Angelina.

"I'm much better now, thank you for helping me."

"How do you know her?" George asked his girlfriend quietly.

"She's the one who bought me to Madame Pomfrey when she found me in the grounds."

Fred stood up, suddenly horrified, "How long have you been feeling ill?" he demanded.

"Not very long," the girl looked slightly scared, "But I thought I'd come straight here and get rid of it straight away."

"Ange, I think I know why the Death Eaters bought you here," Fred said solemnly, "They've spread flu to Hogwarts."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The group spent the next hour or so, asking Angelina every single detail about what had happened and then about her interaction with the student who had fallen ill. They swapped the girls' robes for fresh ones and got Professor Slughorn to do some tests on what they had been wearing. They swabbed the girls skin and got them to shower to try and prevent the spread.

"Were any of the Death Eaters sick?" George had asked Angie.

"No. They were fine."

"Could it be spreading by a spell?" George suggested.

"You think one man has been going around cursing everyone? And why would they need to take Angie to Hogwarts to spread it here?"

At this moment, Angelina burst into tears again and began complaining about guilty she felt. Fred and George shared a sympathetic look and McGonagall excused herself to go and brief her staff. Madame Pomfrey guided the ill student away and Fred sat on Angie's other side calmly. George brushed a strand of hair behind her ear then frowned and leant back so he could peer behind her head.

"Ange?" he gently placed his fingers behind her ear and pulled sharply at something, "What's this?"

He was holding a small, white, fuzzing looking thing that was squirming and moving around between his fingers. Somehow, the thing managed to wiggle its way onto George's arm and hurried up into his shirt. Seconds later, George had a soaring temperature but Angie was sitting up alertly, seemingly completely well. Fred watched them in horror, trying to wrap his head around what he had just seen. George was desperately patting himself down, trying to find the tiny parasite.

"This whole time," Fred said slowly, "Those weird little fuzzy things have been spreading these viruses?"

"Fred!" Angie said suddenly, pointing at the floor. Dozens of the creatures George had found on Angie were spreading across the floor towards the open doors. Some were white like the one which had been attached to Ange while others were black, red or green. They were so small, they wouldn't have been noticeable if there hadn't been so many.

"Shut the door!" George shouted and Fred shot to his feet, bolting across the room just in time to trap the things inside. The parasites swarmed him, crawling up his legs and onto his chest but, unlike what had happened to George, nothing happened. Thirty seconds later, they were all retreating and forming a circle around the man.

"Angie," he said, "Stay away from them. Try not to let any get on you."

Madame Pomfrey came rushing out of her office, demanding to know why the doors had been shut. The student followed behind her, looking baffled. Fred quickly told her what had happened, keeping his eyes fixed on the parasites.

"You need to find one of these on your body somewhere and get it off," he told the girl, "George, you do the same but remember you have two. Angie go into the office and lock the door before one of these things find you, Madame Pomfrey, do the same. Hopefully, they're all contained in here so once I've figure out how to destroy them, we can secure the castle as a safe place for everyone who's cured."

George immediately removed his jumper and shirt and began scanning his body for the small creatures. The student offered to check his back for him seeing as he could see properly.

"Check your hair too," Fred advised, "They'll probably hide somewhere they can't be seen."

Madame Pomfrey quickly guided the student to a screen where she could inspect her own body without the presence of two men making her embarrassed. Fred was distracted making a shield around the bugs so he could experiment in destroying them without them running away or spreading.

"Aha!" George cried triumphantly, "Got it!" He reached behind his knee and plucked one of the small white things away. Immediately, his sweating stopped, his shivering ceased, and he was left with only a blocked nose and sore throat.

"Great," Fred said, "Now find the other one."

George frowned, "But what do I do with this?"

"Bring it here," Fred said, "Hopefully, things can enter this charm but not get out again so you should be able to drop it in."

George slowly made his way across the room, using the beds for support and held the parasite above Fred's magic cage. He let it fall through the mini force-field to join the rest of the bugs but no matter how hard they all tried to crawl out, they just ended up stuck to the sides like spiders. George was still desperately running his hands through his hair and around the back of his neck. He checked inside his ears, under his armpits and even up his nose before finally finding a green bug between his toes and bringing it over to join the rest.

"How do you feel?" Fred asked.

"Completely better," George grinned, "I've never been so glad to get rid of a cold."

"It's good to have you back to normal. I was getting sick of doing everything myself."

The girl came out from behind the screen, holding another green bug between her thumb and finger.

"Bring it over here," Fred said kindly, "Just drop it in."

Just as she did this, the door burst open and the staff of Hogwarts entered.

"Poppy!" McGonagall called, "I have assembled all the students in the Hall for a check over. Could you-" she paused when she saw the mass of colours contained by the twins' feet, "What in Merlin's name?"

"These are what have been causing the illnesses," George explained, "They latch onto the skin and transmit the virus that way until they're removed. We're hoping everyone in the school is cleared but they'll all have to do thorough checks to make sure."

McGonagall nodded, "We'll start with anyone who has been in contact with Miss Harewood since she saw Miss Johnson. Then we'll go through each year, house by house until we've checked everyone."

The staff nodded and Fred said, "Make sure they check everywhere. The bugs hide in crevices which are hard to see."

"Right. We'll start with first year Gryffindors, then Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and finally Ravenclaws. Then move to second years. Horace, Filius, you and the rest of the male staff will help the boys. The rest of us will help the girls. I will make sure the ghosts keep an eye on everyone in the hall with the Prefects. Once they have been checked, send them to their common rooms and make sure they stay there. Miss Harewood you may go straight to your common room. Please do not go anywhere once you have arrived there safely. If you should find one of these creatures, bring them straight here."

The staff dispersed and the student quietly slipped away. After instructing the twins to do anything they could to destroy the bugs, McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey left too.

"Let's take them out one at a time," Fred suggested, "That way if something goes wrong they won't go absolutely everywhere."

George nodded, "How do we take them out?"

"You should be able to just put your hand in and grab one."

The twins discovered quite quickly that setting fire to the parasites was enough to completely destroy them so, one by one, George would pick one up, place it on an open part of the floor slowly so that Fred could immediately burn it with 'Incendio'. The process left dozens of scorch marks all over the stone flooring, but pretty quickly, they were all gone. The twins and Angie even took the time to do a complete search of the room several times to be completely sure they were all gone. Thankfully none of the professors bought in any more parasites which reassured everyone that there weren't any around the castle.

Professor McGonagall returned with the school nurse several hours later, "They are all cleared. The castle is safe."

"Good," George nodded, "We've destroyed all of the creatures we had here."

"What do we do now?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Have all of the staff been cleared too?" Angie asked, "Surely we should do that first."

Finally another half hour later, all of the Hogwarts staff had made sure they were free of any bugs and were gathered in the Hospital Wing.

"Madame Pomfrey, do you have a fireplace in here?" Fred asked.

"Yes, in the office."

"Ok, good. We'll use that to contact everyone we know," Fred declared, "They Floo here, we check them, and we send them to the Great Hall. Nobody who is still showing signs of an illness leaves this room. We still don't know how the bugs are reproducing so for now we have to believe that if even one goes undetected, it could all get out of control again."

"We'll bring people in and send people out in waves. Hopefully, we'll eventually clear everyone. You destroy the bugs by setting fire to them. White ones cause fevers, green ones are cold or flu like things. We'll write everything up so you know what colour you're looking for with each person. As soon as we identify the symptoms caused by the other two colours, we'll tell you."

"But where do we start?" Flitwick asked, "The wizarding population is huge."

"The young and the elderly," Fred decided, "I don't know for sure but I'd guess that they're the most at risk. From there we'll go family at a time based on the students at the school as well as any of our personal friends or family. By that point, it should hopefully be cleared enough that we can spread the word another way."

It took days. There were lines and lines of people flooding into the Hogwarts Hospital wing. Each person was assigned a staff member who asked firstly what symptoms they had been suffering from, then helped them locate the appropriately coloured creature somewhere on their body. Then, the parasites were burnt, the person was sent elsewhere in the castle and their name was added to an ever-growing list of those who had been cleared. This list was also magically projected in every room in the castle and the staff requested that if anyone knew of anyone who was suffering but was not cleared, that they let someone know. There were owls and ghosts flying back and forth through the corridors carrying the names of people's loved ones who they longed to be cured.

When Kingsley Shacklebolt had arrived at the school, he had congratulated the twins on their discovery and then gone out to visit St Mungo's where he and a team of others began carrying out similar procedures there. The Weasley family were glowing with pride at how clever Fred and George had been. It was very strange experience for the twins, Angie and the Hogwarts staff. People stumbled into the infirmary, sometimes unconscious or bleeding, had their parasites removed, were kept for ten minutes for safety and then sent somewhere where there was a sleeping bag for them. The poor house elves had been cooking and cleaning none-stop for the hundreds of people suddenly living in the castle. Thankfully, the castle was exceptionally large and managed to hold everyone they needed it to, even if it was crammed. Beds were transfigured for the elderly, cots provided for babies and they'd even had to build multiple more toilet blocks for the streams of residents.

Five full days after the operation started, they were fairly sure that everyone had been cleared, healed and educated and that most, if not all, of the parasites had been destroyed.

"Fred," George said as the twins sat on one of the hospital beds together, the adrenaline of the past week completely drained. "We need to find Bea."

Fred's face fell, "I know. But we can't storm Malfoy Manor to find her."

"We don't know what they're using her for. If we're right in what we think, then-"

"I don't want to think about it," Fred said, "When Kingsley gets back from the hospital, I think he'll probably want a full brief so we can tell him what we know and what we think is happening. He knows better than us."

"I just thought the days of her getting hurt or kidnapped were gone," George said sadly.

"So did I," Fred sighed. He'd spent most of the past five days distracting himself night and day with helping the curing operation in the castle so he wouldn't have to think about Bianca. George had done the same, busying himself at all times.

"It seems like she's always being attacked or there's always someone trying to kill her," George said, "She doesn't deserve it."

"She's Lord Voldemort's daughter," Fred sighed, "I don't think she could expect anything else."

"At what point is this actually going to be over?" George asked.

Fred didn't have a response. He hated the fact that the answer to this mysterious flu had literally been staring at them the whole time at it had taken so long for them to notice. The bugs were clever, hiding in places no one was likely to look at or see out the corner of their eye, especially when they were so sick.

Most of the staff had retired to their own chambers for their first bits of rest in five days. Fred and George opted to stay in the Hospital Wing with Ange in case anyone else came seeking help. The rest of the Weasleys all came up to see them and it was with heavy hearts that the twins told them what had happened.

"Oh that girl," Mrs Weasley desperately tried to hold back tears, "There's always something, isn't there?"

"You don't still think this is because of Vo-" Harry started to ask, but George sent him a glare that told him to stop talking.

Mrs Weasley looked at the twins, her eyebrows raised, "What was that?"

"Nothing, mum, we're just trying to figure out why this is happening."

"Harry, dear, what were you going to say?"

Harry sent the twins an apologetic look and said, "It was just a theory that the boys were asking me about the other day."

Mrs Weasley looked at Fred and George expectantly, demanding they explain without even speaking.

"We think this might been something to do with Voldemort," George said.

"It seems too strange that they take down the whole London wizarding population and then all break out of Azkaban before kidnapping Bianca," Fred explained, "And what links Bianca to Death Eaters?"

"Voldemort," George said simply.

"It's just a theory."

"Boys," Mrs Weasley looked furious, "How could you even think such a thing?"

"Do you have another solution?" Fred asked.

Their mother glared at them but said nothing, silently raging.

"You two must be tired," Bill cut in before the debate escalated, "You've been working all week non-stop. Get some rest, we'll deal with anyone who comes in."

The twins nodded and took beds on either side of where Angelina was already tucked up asleep. They had forgotten what it was like to sleep at the school, especially in the Hospital Wing but found it surprisingly comfortable.

When Kingsley arrived back at the school with the team of people who had been at St Mungo's, explaining that everything had gone well and the staff there were on top of things, Bill woke the twins up so they could talk to the Minister. They explained to him what they thought might be going on and told him about all the research they had done. He listened silently, absorbing all the information and theories. Once the boys finished, their whole family was gawking at them while Harry was staring at the floor and Hermione was running her hands through her hair as if she was trying to process what they had said.

"Well?" George asked as politely as he could after a few moments silence, "What do you think?"

"I think that- or rather, I am scared that, you might be right. I myself have been struggling to think of reasons why the Death Eaters might have broken out. They must have known that the ministry was in no state to apprehend them and so taken the opportunity to escape and do whatever it is they are planning. That much we all know. The question is- or was- why haven't they done anything yet?"

"Because they needed Bianca," Fred said.

Kingsley nodded, "Before we do anything at all about the Death Eaters, I need to make sure all the wizards who live in London are here or at the Hospital so can not be targets. I also need to inform the Muggle Prime Minister of these updates. I will have to go to the Ministry- it is the only place where I can find the names of everyone person with magical blood. Once I have that list, we can compare it to your list of people who are here and bring those who aren't here."

"How long will it take?" Fred asked impatiently, "The longer we leave Bianca with-"

"It shouldn't take long. But if we storm Malfoy Manor without making sure everyone is safe first and they find out we've all been cured, it's not going to end well."

The twins tried not to look too annoyed by this decision and planned to remain quiet as Kingsley once again vanished with a few aurors to the Ministry until Fred suddenly remembered something, "Wait!" he said and everyone turned sharply to look at him. "We still don't know who started this all."

"Fred, we can figure this out later, right now, we need to make sure everyone is healed."

"No, that's not my point," he said, "Whoever's behind this will be in your records. If you go out to find everyone who hasn't been bought in yet, you're bound to come across the Death Eater and that's going to put everyone in danger."

"On the contrary," Bill said, "I thought you said the Death Eaters were at Malfoy Manor. Surely whoever the spy is will be there so when we find an empty house, we'll know who it was."

"But that's assuming every Death Eater is staying there," George pointed out, "I mean, how big is the house really?"

"Where else would they stay?" Bill challenged.

"Would it not be safer for them to be here?" Harry pointed out, "They can't get away with hurting anyone when they're so badly outnumbered and they have to uphold their guise of being friendly with the other people here. Remember that for the last year they must have had a job somewhere so will have colleagues they have to be nice around."

"Unless they've convinced their colleagues to be Death Eaters too," Ginny said.

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

"Both at the same time," Fred said, "We'll send some people to the Ministry to get a list of everyone who still needs to come for checking and then another team to Malfoy Manor to get Bea."

"And try to find out what the Death Eaters are doing."

Kingsley pondered this for a while until finally agreeing and turning to his team of aurors, "You all go to Malfoy Manor and find Bianca. When you find her, bring her straight back here. Try not to get seen by any Death Eaters, avoid where there'd be any big crowds of them but if you absolutely have you, make an arrest. Stay out of sight as much of possible. I'll take a smaller group with me to the Ministry."

"What about us?" George said immediately, "What can we do?"

"Nothing. My aurors are trained for dangerous rescue situations like this. We can let you jeopardise it."

"But we can help!"

"You can trust the aurors to get her."

"No," George said, "We can't sit here when we don't what's happening."

"Then by all means accompany me to the Ministry." The twins glared at him. "Listen boys, I know you feel responsible for her and want to protect her but you know just how many Death Eaters broke out of Azkaban. As the person who is responsible of the entire British wizarding population, I cannot allow you morally or legally to go. As both your Minster and your friend, I would feel much better if you stayed here."

"Boys," Mr Weasley said, "Just think how Bianca would feel if something happened to one of you while you were trying to save her. Do you not think it would be so much better if you were reunited somewhere safe?"

Neither of the twins fancied pointing out that they might not get reunited at all. "We'll stay here," George decided grumpily.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Just a quick warning that the next few chapters are quite dark so please don't read them if you think it could be upset or triggering. It's quite gruesome and not very nice so please take this as a warning.

Chapter 7

If it were possible to live in a nightmare, Bianca thought that might be what was happening to her. She had been plucked right out of the bed in the flat and taken straight to a place she'd hoped she'd never return to. After her weeks in the Manor before the battle last year, she'd spent days thinking about her life outside and dreaming of the time she'd never be back there. There was something inside her that had completely shut up and she'd wanted to stick herself to Angie like a toddler and not ever leave her. She had been sobbing and screaming horribly as two huge Death Eaters tore her away from her friend and took her off. From there, she was strapped to a bed frame which had been stripped of its mattress and sheets and left there for a few hours while she cried loudly and wailed until her throat was raw and she couldn't even croak out a cry for help.

Then, she just felt like she was being experimented on for the next day. They sliced her open, took her blood, chopped bits of her hair off and didn't care at all about how careful they were as they did it. She didn't know what they were doing, but was too preoccupied to figure it out. Thanks to all the crying she'd been doing, her splitting headache was throbbing more than ever. She wasn't sure that her blurred vision was a courtesy of her migraine or her extensive blood loss. Every time someone came in to take some of her blood, she couldn't hep but feel that they'd only bandage her afterwards so that she would still be alive later for them to come back to and take something else. There were knifes strewn everywhere around her covered in blood and multiple other things and she didn't really know what many of those things were. She desperately missed the times where she had her strange ability to heal herself, even if at the time she didn't know it was something she could do. It made her queasy to think that if she looked down, she would probably be able to see her insides so stayed stubbornly staring at the strangely clean ceiling. It looked odd, having such a perfectly clean surface above her when everything else in the room was showered in blood or smeared with parts of her innards or sprinkled with her hair. She herself looked like a corpse who had suffered a particularly gruesome autopsy.

The flu she'd been suffering from had caused her muscles to ache constantly but now, this dull aching was accompanied with cramp after being tied unnecessarily tightly to the bed frame for two days. Twice a day, the Death Eaters brought a glass of water, held it somewhere approximately above her face and tipped the glass. From there, it was up to her to get as much of it in her mouth as she possibly could. Food was yet to be a luxury she had been provided with but when her stomach was practically outside of her body, she didn't really mind.

On her third day as their prisoner/ guinea pig, someone came in and untied all of the straps which were holding her down.

"Get up," he said gruffly.

Bianca looked at him- she was slightly concerned that if she stood up, her organs might fall out- so he sighed as if she was the biggest inconvenience in the world and then wrapped a thick bandage around her middle tightly. Very, very slowly, she started to sit up, her body contorting in pain and protest. She cried out in agony but the man only told her impatiently to hurry up. Her legs shook so violently that as she stumbled around the room, she had to grasp onto the walls. Already there were specks of blood poking through her bandage and she hadn't even got out of the room before she'd fallen to her knees and had to crawl a few meters to get to the doorframe so she could haul herself up to her feet again. From there, she somehow managed to follow the Death Eater through the extensive halls, leaving specks of blood behind her as she went. Her legs trembled with the effort of keeping her body supported and she couldn't straighten her posture because every time she tried, her sliced midriff screamed at her and felt like it was ripping open even more.

When they reached a set of stairs which the man expected her to walk down, Bianca took a moment to compose herself before very slowly moving one leg to go down the first step. However as soon as she bent her leg to lower herself, her knee seemed to snap forward much more than she'd wanted and she was sent tumbling down to the bottom of the staircase where she lay sprawled, breathing heavily. The bandage which had been around her middle had unravelled and formed a red stained carpet around her.

"Get up."

Vision swimming, Bianca hauled herself to her feet which she no longer trusted. She briefly considered what type of hell she must be going through if she couldn't even rely on her own body parts any more. The Death Eater opened a door and signalled for her to enter. As soon as she got to the entrance to the room, Bianca faltered. She was so horrified by what she could see that for a moment, the pain seemed to ebb slightly and she couldn't focus on anything except what lay before her. It looked like scene from a Muggle horror film like she'd watch with the twins or some sort of crazy experiment gone terribly wrong. In containers all around the room were what were undoubtably human body parts and organs, each one contracting and moving in its own grotesque fashion. Whilst being connected to each other, these disgusting things were also all connected by tubes to something which made Bianca gag. Right in the centre of the room positioned carefully on what looked like an operating table was the dead body of Lord Voldemort.

The Death Eater behind her pushed Bianca forward so that she fell and slid across the floor to stop at her father's side. The smell coming from the corpse was possibly the most gruesome thing because despite the preserving charms which were obviously in place, there was no denying the fact that it was a dead body. Bea felt the undeniable urge to throw up as she realised parts of the corpse were decaying and rotting.

"How have you-" she tried to ask, her voice scratchy and almost completely impossible to understand.

"We've been very lucky that daddy's little girl decided to be a healer," the Death Eater said, "You've definitely helped us out. After all, instead of needing three," he paused while he thought of an appropriate word, "helpers, we've only needed one."

"Three?"

"Well, we needed someone to experiment on, you know, find out how everything works. There's only a certain amount you can read about without having to see something for yourself." He indicated to her middle. It now made sense that they had been cutting her open to find out how all of her organs worked. "Then once we'd developed the parts, we'd need a healer to be able to put everything back together again."

The man strutted over to the bedside and threw back the covers to reveal that from the base of his neck to his bellybutton, Voldemort's skin had been neatly cut and opened. His insides were completely hollow- an empty cave covered by skin and supported by bones.

"But of course, charms can't keep him alive forever. We had to have someone to give their life and their magic back to the Dark Lord. And what better person to do that than someone so similar to him to begin with? Every structure in this room contains both some of yours and some of his DNA to give the Dark Lord back his magic and return his powers."

"You want me to revive my father?" Bianca asked, her voice trembling horribly, "What if I don't?"

"You die."

"But I'll die anyway, right? Either I die trying to bring back the man I hate most in the world or I die to stop that happening. Tough decision but I know which one I'd prefer. I can't help you, sorry. Oh, and before you threaten my family too, don't think I'm stupid enough to believe that you won't hurt them if I help you. You can't do anything without him," she pointed weakly to her father's corpse, "So if I refuse and you kill me now, you're back to square one and nothing happens."

"We can make you help us," the Death Eater twirled his wand around his fingers threateningly.

"What, the Imperius curse?" Bianca smirked, "You can try but unless you know exactly how to put all of these organs into place properly and can then instruct me to do so, I don't think that's going to work too well either. I don't think 'heal him' is going to be enough for this one. I'm not sure if it's anything you've ever experienced but you can't think for yourself when you're under the Imperius curse. I wouldn't be able to apply any of my healing knowledge."

Bianca didn't know if this was strictly true, but she was hoping the Death Eater wouldn't know this either. She was desperately trying to talk her way out until her had a better plan. The Death Eater growled and roughly pulled her to her feet. He walked briskly from the room, leaving her to stumble after him, desperately trying to keep up and not fall flat on her face. She tripped over every stair on her way back up to the room she was kept in but didn't even bother to struggle against his grip. She knew she wasn't string enough and would just end up hurting herself more if she tried anything. The Death Eater threw her onto the bed frame violently ripped off what was left of her bandages and retied the straps around her, ten times tighter than they had been previously. He grabbed a knife from the floor which was already caked with her blood and started carving into her again. Her screaming just seemed to make him dig the blade in deeper. He slowly engraved the word 'traitor' just below her collarbone and then left the knife shoved in her chest. "I'll be back," he snarled and then left.

The thoughts of what she had just witnessed haunted her for hours. The very idea that she might have to be the reason for the horrific return of Lord Voldemort was traumatising and nearly made her forget about the knife protruding from her or the pure agony she was experiencing. Her wrists, ankles and neck were blistered from the strapping around her and Bea hated to think how dishevelled she looked. She was just wondering how much longer it would take for her to bleed out when the door opened again and the Death Eater returned, this time with three others. Two Death Eaters were holding a squirming Draco Malfoy between them. The young man stopped struggling momentarily when he caught sight of Bianca but then just seemed to become even more angry and fought against them harder.

"I have some motivation for you," the Death Eater who had taken her down to where her father's body was said horribly.

"Don't help them, Bianca," Malfoy shouted, "Not for me."

"Shut up," the man on his right snapped.

"So, you help us and Mr Malfoy here survives. You refuse and we'll kill this innocent person. You're friends, right? You know each other. Do you want him to die just because you can't do as you're told?"

"Bianca don't."

"No. Don't hurt him," Bianca said, thinking of everything he and his mother had done to help last year.

"You'll help?"

"Bianca. Don't you dare. I'm not worth it."

"Draco, it's ok. Please stop."

"But-"

"I'll help."

The main Death Eater nodded, stepped towards her and yanked the knife from her chest. Bianca grunted, tears streaming down her face. The man laughed at her then waved his wand to close the wound and pulled her to her feet. She stumbled forward and fell into Malfoy who studied her carefully and made sure she could stand properly.

"Let's go."

Looking at the corpse the second time was even more horrible than the first. This time she noticed every single item in every single container. There was a huge jar in one corner containing lots of scarlet liquid and another clear box housed what Bianca could only assume would end up as a nervous system. The creepiest items had to have been the eyes which she was semi-expecting to start rolling around watching her as she moved. Draco was held in one corner as a reminder to do everything properly. It took most of Bianca's energy just to focus on what she was meant to be doing. There was always one thought nagging the back of her mind which was giving her hope. The Death Eaters didn't know that she no longer possessed any of the extra powers she'd inherited from her father. If she even managed to resuscitate him, he wouldn't be even half as powerful as he had been previously. She was desperately hoping that even if whatever strange plan the Death Eaters had to bring back Voldemort worked, it wouldn't take much effort from her friends and family to be able to take him down again properly.

"You can take your time," one of the Death Eaters said, "We're in no rush but maybe for the sake of Mr Malfoy, you don't want to bleed out before you finish."

"Ok," Bianca took a deep breath, "Let me think. I'm assuming you want me to do this properly."

She studied each organ carefully, trying to decide how best to go about her task. She finally decided to start with the blood vessels and nervous system so she could then connect everything to them. Without magic, it would have been impossible and that just made Bianca think that it should be impossible with as well. It was unnatural and horrible and she didn't want to think what sorts of dark magic would be used later once everything was in place. The Death Eaters had grown their own body parts to bring someone back from the dead and experimented mercilessly on another person in order to do so. Not only was it breaking hundreds of laws but it was also morally wrong.

It took three days for Bianca to reconstruct the body completely. Several times the Death Eaters were forced to heal some of her injuries to ensure she didn't keel over and die as she worked. She wasn't allowed to rest, stop to eat or drink or even speak. She had been given a wand- she didn't know who it belonged to- and was watched constantly by at least two Death Eaters. Draco was kept in the corner the whole time but, unlike her, he was allowed the luxury of food and water. Multiple times, Bianca considered turning to him and making a joke about how he was meant to treat his guests but every time she even looked up from her work a curse was sent in her direction which would only just miss her to bring her attention back to her job.

The last thing she restored to her father's body was the blood. She watched in exhaustion as the liquid slowly flowed from its container into the open wound she'd made for it to enter. Once it has all emptied, she quickly sewed up the hole and then his chest and looked at the Death Eaters.

"It's done," she said, "Everything's back where it should be."

"Excellent," one of the men who had been guarding her smiled maliciously. He turned to his colleague, "Get the others. We'll start the process now."

"Wait," Draco said, scrambling to his feet, "She's too tired. If you try it now, she'll die before the process is complete."

"She has to do nothing from now on. It is us who will be performing the magic."

"That may be, but you're taking her energy to give it to the Dark Lord. If he gets any at all, from this state, it won't be substantial to restore him to his full power."

"What do you care about the Dark Lord?" the Death Eater stood over Draco threateningly and swiftly punched him in the gut, "Traitor."

"I'm just trying to save myself," Malfoy retorted, "You said that if she fails, I die too. I don't want that to happen."

"You can rest," the man spun on Bianca, "But in here. Draco will be taken elsewhere until it is time. I don't want him trying to help you escape. Three hours. That is all."

He took the wand, told the other Death Eater to stay where she was and watch over Bianca and then dragged Malfoy away.

Bianca gently lowered herself to the cold, stone floor and curled up in a ball. She didn't know how long she had been crying, but tears were streaming down her cheeks and she trembled horribly. She was plagued with the idea that her father's body might sit up on the bed and start walking around again, horrified by what she had done. At the time it seemed like there had been no choice. How stupid had she been not to realise how disastrous the entire situation was? She was beaten, bruised and broken after being literally sliced up and prodded at for a few days and then performing all sorts of illegal and disgusting procedures to revive a dead body. She was only just noticing how clouded her vision was and how she truly had never been in so much emotional and physical pain. She thought of Fred and George and how desperately they were trying to figure out what was happening. For the first time since they'd been separated, she thought of Angie and what horrible things the Death Eaters might have done to her.

She didn't sleep at all in the three hours but her mind drifted in and out of whatever half state of consciousness she was in. She remembered how when Hartley had kidnapped her, he had told her everyone would hate her for what she'd done. Back then, she had still been terrified despite not committing any of the allegations. This time however, she had possibly carried out the worst crime in wizarding history just to save herself. Maybe her fate would be kinder than spending the rest of her days in Azkaban after all.

When the Death Eater returned, this time with all of his friends, he pulled her viciously to her feet and took her over to a strange contraption in the corner. She didn't know when that had appeared but she couldn't help but notice the resemblance the whole scene had to a Muggle fantasy horror. It amused her to think that the criminals had been given televisions to watch in prison and had spent their time taking notes from fictional crazy scientists. She was strapped to what looked like a propped-up door, her hands next to her head, and the ends of two tubes were attached to her collarbones. The other ends of these tubes were placed on the chest of Lord Voldemort. Next to the body, there was a small box. She couldn't quite see what was in it but another tube led form inside it to one of the other tubes connecting Bianca to Voldemort. She truly had never been so terrified. Of course, she'd been threatened with death before, but none of those other times had any negative consequences on anyone else. Not like this. She bit her lip, trying to hold back sobs.

"Aw, is daddy's little girl scared?" The Death Eaters sneered.

Bianca's eyes scanned the crowd, looking desperately for someone else who might be able to help her. She noticed Draco standing by his father's side in the corner, both of their heads dipped in embarrassment before uncountable wands all turned to her and a voice said, "Begin."

And Bianca was sure her screams could be heard all across the country.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The teams were getting ready to leave on their missions. Fred and George were sitting dejectedly on one of the beds, arms folded angrily as they watched. They had kicked up such a fuss that Bill and Harry had both been permitted to go to Malfoy Manor as a way of reassurance. Kingsley was going over both plans again with the groups and they were all just about to Floo away when someone very unexpected stepped out of the fireplace instead.

Narcissa Malfoy stood before everyone, her eyes wild and sunken, her hair messy and greasy and clothes tatty and creased, "I need your help," she gasped desperately, "You have to stop them all, now. They're- they're in my house and they're going to-"

Mrs Weasley was the first to snap out of shock and she stepped forward and kindly put a hand on the woman's shoulder, "Calm down, dear. It's ok. Why don't you have a seat and you can tell us what happened?"

"No, there's no time! You have to go now before it's too late."

"What's going on?" Bill asked.

"The Death Eaters," she said, "They're all in the Manor. They have Bianca and they're using her to- to-"

"To what?" The twins stood up furiously, "What have they done to her?"

Narcissa dissolved into sobs and Madame Pomfrey rushed over with a calming draught. Once the woman's nerves had settles considerably, Mrs Weasley asked again what was going on.

"They're bringing him back. That's what all of this is about. They started the illness and escaped once the defence was down escaped from prison. They came straight to our house, took Draco and I upstairs and locked us in one of the spare rooms. Lucius didn't know what to do, he escaped with them all and knows everything but he really doesn't want any of this to happen. They've done the most horrible things."

"What have they done to Bea?" Fred demanded, trying hard not to sound too rude.

A single tear rolled down Narcissa's cheek, "Well first, they did some experiments on her, to find out how the human body works, then they took some DNA samples and they- they regrew organs by mixing her DNA with Voldemort's. They made her put his body back together."

"That's not possible," Mr Weasley said.

"It took a year of research and so much dark magic. They found a spell- with a fully complete body, there's a- a- a ritual type thing that they can do to bring him back. It involves taking the magic and energy from one person and transferring it to another. The spell keeps part of the magic focused in keeping all of the body parts functioning. That's why they wanted Bianca. Anyone else's magic would mean he would have considerably less power but she's so similar to him genetically and she had all those extra powers so he would still be powerful despite the magic being used to keep him alive."

"But she doesn't have them anymore," George said, "She lost them last year when she saved Fred."

Narcissa gaped at him, "Well. I suppose that's a good thing. It'll be easier to take him down again. He'll have less magic."

"A good thing? Bea's going to die!"

"How did you get out?" Harry asked.

"They used Draco as bait to make sure Bianca did everything properly, they were getting ready to start performing the charms to bring him back when they came to get me and Lucius from upstairs. I ran. I thought you all might be at the Hospital so I went there first but when I explained everything to one of the healers there, he told me to come here. He said that's where I'd find people who can help."

"This process," Fred said, "To bring back Voldemort. It would have killed her even if she still had her powers, right?"

Narcissa nodded, "I'm sorry. With the amount of experimenting and torturing they've done to her, I doubt she would have survived much longer anyway."

"So we have to get her now," George said, "Before they start."

This time, Fred and George absolutely refused to accept no as an answer when they said they'd be joining the aurors on the mission. They knew that there really was a possibility they wouldn't see Bianca alive again and wouldn't miss out on the chance to say goodbye or the chance to save her. They had to be there.

Once everyone was gathered by the fireplace in the office, Narcissa said, "You can Floo straight to Malfoy Manor. They'll all be down in the basement by now to start the ceremony. Please be careful. The magic they're performing is dangerous. If something goes wrong-"

"We have it under control," Kingsley said, "You just stay here with Molly."

Mrs Weasley nodded and headed over to Narcissa kindly.

"Please bring Draco back."

Kingsley nodded sharply, "Are we ready?"

One by one, the team disappeared into the fireplace and ended up in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor. There were about twenty of them and they all quietly moved through the house. Checking every corner and every room for anyone who might be lurking. The stairs to the basement seemed to go on forever.

"George," Fred had whispered about half way down, pointing to a speck on the wall, "That's blood."

"We know she was tortured," George responded quietly, "It's ok. Stay focused."

They stood outside the door to the basement for a few minutes, listening carefully so they could try and gauge what was going on inside. All they could hear was a soft, ominous chanting and there seemed to be a pulsing light glowing from the crack underneath the door.

"Protective charms up," Kingsley said softly, "Bill, step to the side with Davies and Edwards, get ready to get Bianca and leave immediately. Do not hang around, no matter what the situation. Everyone else, stop whatever charms they're doing first and then take them down. It's important that there is no chance of Voldemort rising. Three, two, one!"

One of the stronger aurors kicked the door down and then immediately started firing spells. It was a horrific sight. Dozens of Death Eaters were standing around what looked like a muggle operation table with a couple of tubes coming out of a man who lay there. Each tube was glowing a deep blue colour and light seemed to be flowing into the man but it froze when the aurors burst into the room. The chanting ceased and everyone turned to stare at the newcomers in surprise. Bill was quietly leading two other aurors around the room when a huge fight broke out. The eldest Weasley child ran over to where Bianca was strapped. He ripped the tubes off her chest and immediately the blue lights which they had held finished their journey into the body in the centre of the room which, much to everyone's horror, began to twitch and move.

"Undo the straps," Bill ordered, "Quickly."

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was severely out numbered and being forced towards the doors again.

"Hold strong!" Kingsley shouted, "Just for a little longer."

By some miracle, none of the Death Eaters hadn't noticed Bill on the other side of the room. They were all too concerned with anything happening to hurt their master and the spells and curses being sent their way were enough to keep them occupied. Draco and Lucius Malfoy had slipped out the door at Harry's order while the man sheltered their escape. Fred and George were trying desperately not to look over at where their brother was rescuing Bianca, not wanting to see what horrible state she might be in. That horrible state happened to be basically dead with her magic and living energy sucked out of her. Bill thought he had seen someone pale before but what Bea looked like now was taking peaky to a whole new level. Her eyelids were flickering but when Bill held them open, she was staring straight ahead and her eyeballs were glassy. Her skin was ice and Bill couldn't help but notice how she was littered with deep grazes. It angered him to think of what Narcissa had told them about how Bea had been tortured and experimented on. He could see the makeshift stitches along her middle which were no doubt holding in her organs. He'd seen dead bodies that looked less like a corpse and it terrified him but also spurred him to help her even more.

Once the straps around her arms and legs were gone, she flopped forward, help up only by the bond around her waist.

"Hurry," Bill held Bianca's top half up while the auror named Davies worked on the last strap. Once they had her safely, they immediately ran from the room, calling out to Kingsley as they did to let him know they were safe and out the way. He saw Fred and George turn quickly to make sure Bea was ok but Bill shook his head at them and signalled for them to turn around again. Because unfortunately, the Death Eaters had spotted that they were distracted and had no mercy. Bill saw George fall and sighed before he had to help the others move Bianca. She was so light and floppy, it was like carrying a thin layer of water. Bill held her tightly as they crammed into the fireplace in the drawing room. She seemed so small, it was like holding a baby to him. He could keep her weight supported with one arm and put his other hand on her head to pull it into the crook of his neck.

As soon as he appeared in the Hospital wing of Hogwarts, everyone shot to their feet and ran over to the bed he was placing Bianca on gently.

"They've taken her magic," Bill said, "They put it into Voldemort to bring him back."

"Did they get all of it?"

"Enough to leave her like this and give some life back to Voldemort."

"He's back?" Ginny asked in horror.

"Not properly, I hope. But he was moving and twitching."

"You don't mean they actually did it?" For the first time, Bill looked up and saw the Malfoys sitting together in the corner looking pale. He nodded solemnly.

"But we have a team working on it still."

"So she's dead then?" Draco asked, looking genuinely upset.

"No," Mrs Weasley said, "She can't be!"

"Mum," Ron said, "They literally took her magic and her life away and gave it to someone else. Look at her. She doesn't look very alive to me."

"They didn't take all of it though, right?" Angelina said, looking at Madame Pomfrey, "You can help her, can't you?"

"If what we've been told is true, then what she's suffered is similar to a Dementor's kiss except. There's nothing left for me to help. They've taken everything. I'm so sorry."

"But she was alive!" Bill cried, "When we got her out, she was alive!"

Madame Pomfrey could only shake her head. Just as Mrs Weasley was about to fully dissolve into tears, the fireplace lit up and people started returning from Malfoy Manor. Most of them were sporting some sort of injury. Fred and Harry were holding George between them and many of the other aurors were holding some body part in agony.

"Oh goodness," Madame Pomfrey gasped and she and Mrs Weasley immediately began helping people. The Hospital Wing was suddenly very crowded with aurors and Weasleys. Kingsley stood solemnly before everyone looking horrified and very serious.

"We failed," he announced, "We were forced to retreat when-"

Silence fell across the room as understanding settled. Just after Bill had left with Bianca, the previously dead body in the centre of the room had sat straight up and began to address his followers. There was no denying that he was extremely weak, but even the fact that the most dangerous man in the world had a beating heart was awful enough. Especially due to the circumstances of how he had returned to such a state.

As soon as Madame Pomfrey had bought George back to consciousness and healed his broken ribs which he had sustained from the curse he'd been hit with, Fred looked at Bill expectedly, hope blazing in his eyes.

"Listen, Fred, you know what they did to her. You know what happened."

"No," Fred shook his head, "No, no, no. You can't be serious. We were too late?"

George sat up, "No, we can't have been. You saved her, right, Bill? I can't watch her die again."

"I'm sorry, ok!" Bill exploded, "I tried. I didn't want this to happen either. You're not the only ones that love her."

Very slowly, Fred and George got to their feet and traipsed across the room to where Bianca lay lifelessly. It felt surreal which was probably why nobody was sobbing yet. Everything had happened so quickly. Within a week, the girls had been kidnapped, the twins had found a cure for the flus, used that to cure everyone and then stormed Malfoy Manor to rescue Bianca who had been literally sliced open and tortured. Now she was gone and Voldemort was back. Everything had happened at such a speed that no one had time to process anything. Now it felt like it was all over when in reality, the biggest threat had just begun.

Angie was the first to snap out of the weird trance and began sobbing, "I should have stayed with her. I could have kept her safe!"

"Do not be silly," Fleur comforted, "Zey vould have killed you too. Zere iz nothing you could have done."

"I left her! I left her with them all alone. Look what they've done to her!"

Fred, George and Mrs Weasley seemed to be in shock. They all seemed frozen in place, not knowing what to believe. Bill was sitting angrily in the corner while Ginny wailed horribly in Ron's arms. Harry was too upset to comfort her and even Percy shed a tear. The aurors stayed in the corner looking embarrassed and sheepish at their failure. Kingsley had his hand on Mr Weasley's shoulder supportively. Hermione had tucked herself in the corner sadly. The Hogwarts staff didn't seem to know what to do with themselves. They all looked deeply saddened by what had happened but were also preoccupied by the return of Voldemort.

"We have to inform everyone. They are all in danger and it is their right to know," Kingsley said across the solemn silence.

"There will be uproar," McGonagall said, "None of them even knew this was a possibility."

Kingsley turned to his team of aurors, "Go to St Mungo's. Help where you can and inform everyone of what has happened," he looked at McGonagall, "I will help your staff here. Make sure everyone understands what had happened and try not to make them panic. That is the last thing we need. Gather the old Order of the Phoenix as well as anyone else who may be willing to help and we can trust," Finally he addressed the Weasleys, "I truly am so sorry."

Soon, there was only the Weasleys and their friends left in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey who was gently cleaning all of Bianca's wounds and stitching them up. No one really knew why; there was no way to bring her back, after all, but they were all too upset to say anything. Finally, Bill stood up and said hoarsely, "I should write to Charlie. Let him know what's happening- er- happened."

Fleur stood up and made to follow him, but he shook his head, "I want to be alone."

On his way out, he patted Fred and George on the back and squeezed Ginny's hand as he passed.

Forty-five minutes later when the Hogwarts staff returned with Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, most of the old DA as well as a few other willing people, the Weasleys were in the same solemn position and Madame Pomfrey had returned to her office. Hagrid, who had been busy watching over everyone in the castle trudged in a few moments later, took one look at Bianca and seemed to break. His reaction now set off everyone else as Mrs Weasley fell to the floor and Fred and George turned to each other, tears drowning their faces. Lee, Alicia and Katie ran forward through the small crowd to Angie and the twins, all of them devastated. Lee was soon practically holding the twins up as they were too broken to stand themselves.

Both of their minds had been empty while the family had been alone because it had seemed so impossible to imagine a life without Bianca. The idea had seemed so preposterous that really it was like a nightmare, not real life. But Hagrid's outburst was sure to wake them up if it was in fact a dream and suddenly everything hit them. They hadn't got there in time. They hadn't saved her. Fred's heart had been completely ripped apart. The girl he loved with all of his heart was lying before him but she wouldn't ever sit up and smile at him ever again. He'd never hear one of her jokes or cuddle her as they fell asleep. How was he ever meant to do anything ever again when it all reminded him of her? How could he return to the flat and not remember her? Everywhere he'd ever been, he'd been with Bianca. George was equally distraught as he gripped onto his friends, thinking how empty everywhere would be without Bianca. She was like the sunshine of the flat and always knew exactly what to do in every situation. She dealt with everything calmly and cleverly and kept everything so organised. She was the most important girl in both of the twins' lives. Or she had been.

"There has to be something you can do," Fred cried to no one in particular, "Please."

He broke away from George's hold and knelt by Bianca's side, taking her small, cold hand in his warm one and gripping onto it. "I love you, Bea," he sniffled quietly, "And you'll never know how much. But I do, and I hate how this happened. You were meant to get better. We figured it out- George and I- we could have fixed you. You could have gone back to work and everything would be fine again. I'm sorry we didn't save you. I'll never forgive myself for not getting there in time and I'm so sorry for what they did to you. No one should ever have to go through that." He wiped a tear away and got up to gently kiss her on the forehead, "I love you."

By now, everyone in the room was crying. Little Teddy was screaming louder than ever, but no one tried to shush him. The girl who they had always viewed as a symbol of hope was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Fred and George didn't take part in any of the discussions that followed. They couldn't really comprehend anything that was happening. Both of them just sat by Bianca crying an endless stream of tears. They couldn't have told anyone how long they sat there, just looking hopelessly into the distance. It reminded them slightly of the Christmas of their sixth year when they'd found her after Mad-Eye Moody had attacked her. She'd looked so ill and small then, but that was nothing compared to what she looked like now. There was no other way to describe her skin except grey, apart from the red blisters and black bruising around her wrists, ankles and waist. There were scars everywhere, including the one that read 'traitor' only too clearly and the line underneath that where a knife had been buried. That wasn't to mention the jagged cut from her belly button upwards. Her lips were dry, her fingertips blue. It was genuinely heart wrenching to see someone who was always so lively and kind so still and lifeless. Fred had never felt such a horrid feeling. He'd lost people close to him- everyone had in the war- but this was so much more personal. George, who had already experienced how horrible it was when he'd thought both Fred and Bianca were dead, was even more ripped up than he had been last time. At least last time Bianca had 'died', it had been for a good cause. She'd been sacrificing herself for the sake of the rest of the population. But now, her life had been savagely taken. Fred and George hadn't even gotten the chance to see her before she was gone. In fact, the last time Fred had seen her was a week ago before he'd been to visit Harry. He hadn't even said a proper goodbye to her then. They were truly convinced that it was the most horrible way for anyone to die. Alone and scared, being forced to commit hideous crimes all the while being tortured and starved.

When the fireplace lit up for what felt like the billionth time and two terrified looking people in healer's uniforms burst into the Hospital Wing, Fred and George didn't even bat an eyelid. It wasn't until Daisy fell to her knees and took Bianca's hand that Fred shot to his feet and all but shouted for her to get away.

"It isn't true," the girl sobbed as Bill stepped towards his brother and put a calming hand on his shoulder. "It can't be true."

"We hoped there'd been a mistake," Kyle said from next to her, wiping away a tear, "Mixed messages or something."

"No," Fred replied sharply, "No mistake. She really is gone."

"Fred," Bill said, "Calm down. It isn't their fault."

"Of course, it isn't. It's just one of those things, isn't it? One of those things that can't be helped, right?"

"Fred-"

"No. I- I'm just-" he sighed and ran from the room. Wordlessly, George got to his feet and followed, somehow knowing exactly where his twin was going. Everyone else in the room moved to go after them but Mr Weasley said, "Don't. Just leave them. They need time."

"We want to help," Kyle said, rubbing Daisy on the back reassuringly, "We know what's happened and Bianca meant the world to us. We want to help whatever it is you're doing."

"It'll be dangerous."

"I don't care," Daisy looked up, still gripping her friend's hand, "Bea didn't deserve this. We should stop it before anyone else dies and to do that you need help. We can help."

"Before you start filling us in, though," Kyle said, "Would you mind if I saw my brother? He should be here, he's a student."

McGonagall nodded, "Come with me."

Just as they had left, another person entered the room, pale faced and furious, "That was a joke, right, Bill?" Charlie yelled, "It wasn't funny, I'll tell you that. You'd think that living with the twins for however many years would have taught you something about good pranks."

At this, Mrs Weasley broke down again and Mr Weasley walked towards his son, "Charlie-"

"No. He can't have you all in on it. Stop. You've got me here for whatever reason so what is it? You can drop the-" his eyes fell on the bed next to where he stood and he gasped, "I said stop it. It's not funny, no one's laughing." He moved towards Bianca and took her hand, trying to pretend it wasn't as cold as stone.

"It's not a joke, Charlie," Percy said gravely.

"It has to be! She can't be dead! She was fine! What happened?"

Kingsley took him to one side and quietly recounted everything that had been going on so that no one else would have to relive it. Much like the rest of his family, Charlie was sobbing by the end of it and immediately ran to his mother and wrapped her in a hug. It was a horrible day for everyone. When the twins returned an hour after they has left and saw their brother they seemed to shatter all over again. Fred looked awful and George looked no better. Angie got to her feet and carefully guided her boyfriend to a chair and Fred's lip visibly quivered as he clearly longed for his own girlfriend to do the same for him. He didn't know how he'd be able to go around the flat and watch George with Angie doing everything as a couple. How could he watch his other half continue with his relationship when his own had been so brutally ended? Part of him would never be the same again because one of the people he loved above anyone else had gone and he'd never get to see her again. He looked over at George who was tucked like a toddler into Angie's arms as she hugged him and stroked his hair gently. He struggled to hold himself together as he recalled how soft and soothing it always felt when Bianca would do the same to his hair. His heart ached to think that from now he'd be sleeping alone and waking up to an empty bed. No one would ever put their head on the other pillow or fall asleep wrapped up in his arms. He no longer had anyone to get up and make a cup of tea for in the morning unless he wanted to deliver drinks to his brother only to be reminded of how lonely he now was.

He'd never wanted to talk to someone badly. He so desperately wanted her to sit up and be completely fine again. He'd even prefer her to be half dead, injured and starved to this. At least then he'd be able to help her get better.

Charlie was standing next to his brother for five minutes before Fred finally responded to his name and looked across, "What sorry?"

"Come here," Charlie wrapped Fred in a hug and the younger brother melted into the embrace, entire body like jelly. Fred cried until it was physically impossible to cry any more.

Something was wrong. She'd known it from the moment she'd felt her fingers twitch and her heart start beating. Firstly, why was she now horizontal when she'd been tied to a vertical board? Also, why could she not feel the deep cuts which the Death Eaters had previously sliced into her? She felt so tall and unlike how she'd ever felt before. It was terrifying and very baffling. Very slowly, she sat up and looked around, horrified to find herself in the centre of a group of Death Eaters, all of whom were firing at a group of others. She immediately recognised Kingsley, Harry and, most importantly, the twins and was getting ready to call out to her when she saw something that made the words stop in her throat. Another familiar ginger man was carrying the body of a young woman out of the room hurriedly. Given the circumstances, that wouldn't have been too strange if it wasn't for the fact the girl Bill was carrying was her. That was when she knew something had happened with the ceremony. Because Bianca was watching her brother take away her own body.

She looked at her hands and was disgusted to see rotting flesh and bones which stuck out through her skin. Or his skin. She was sure now that somehow, her soul had ended up in her father's body. Instead of just taking life and donating it someone else, they had taken her consciousness and put it into Lord Voldemort's brain. She didn't know what to do. Tell any of the Death Eaters and she really would be dead in a second. She would have to act the part and try to figure out a way to contact her family.

"Stop," she said, surprised by her new voice and also the fact that every Death Eater in the room lowered their wands. She watched her friends' team retreat, concerned to see Fred supporting George's weight, "Let them go. It is no use any of you injuring yourselves. I need all of you well."

She tried not to doubt herself and decided instead to just believe everything she was saying was believable.

"I need someone to attend to my wounds. I must have my strength back before we can proceed."

"Of course, my Lord," the person who was closest to her came forward.

"Immediately," Bianca continued.

Another came forward with a second set of robes and helped 'The Dark Lord' into them for warmth.

She tried desperately to drag the process of being healed out as long as she could. It was a very difficult thing to deal with. Her family would think she was dead. She could just imagine the look on everyone's faces, the anger that the twins would feel. She decided she didn't want to consider Fred and George until she had managed to get a message to someone. Until then, she would have to play the part of an invalid until she could speak to someone trustworthy. Unfortunately, this meant lying helplessly on a spare bed in Malfoy Manor being waited on and never left alone by Death Eaters. She knew she should probably know all of the people around her to be able to pull her role off properly but she barely even recognised some of the faces. At one point, she'd had to stop herself crying out when Alexander Hartley bought in some bandages.

There was no denying that she was weak, that was no act. She was probably stronger than she would have been if she was in her own body but Voldemort had been dead for a year and the body parts had been hand-made with Dark Magic. There was no certainty that they'd all work properly in the long term and every component was unreliable. Therefore, the first thing she did when she had the strength was demand to know what the Death Eaters had done. From this, she found out everything. One of the Death Eaters who had been working with Hartley last year when they were trying to kill Bianca had remained uncaught and been researching black magic and resurrection non-stop until they'd stumbled across the particular ritual which had been completed to bring back Voldemort. From there, he'd dug up the body and tried to preserve it and then began working on a way to break their colleagues out of Azkaban. Bianca learnt all about the flus, something she was sure the twins had already figured out, and even the extensive plan to infiltrate the prison. They'd practised the ritual and spells for months and then all they'd needed was Bea. They told her that the strange little box she'd seen in the room was a type of horcrux as a precaution to protect Voldemort.

"Leave me," she said when they'd explained everything in as much detail as she could get out of them, "I need to rest."

She paced around the room for hours, snapping at anyone who knocked on the door. She realised she'd need a wand to send a patronus to anyone and Merlin only knew where her wand was. She couldn't write a letter either as there was no way to send it without someone asking who it was for. Given the circumstances, she didn't think 'contacts' would be a reasonable response. It would have been easy if Snape was alive. He had been the sneakiest spy ever to live and no one really knew who he had been fighting for until the very end. The Malfoys would have been a good option but she could tell by how Draco had been treated that they weren't fully trusted. Besides, she hadn't seen any of them since the ritual in the basement so had deduced that the family had probably fled. She allowed herself the rest of the day to try and think of something but the next morning, when no inspiration had struck, she decided to summon all of the Death Eaters to the Dining Hall for a meeting.

Bianca tried to keep her knees from trembling as she addressed the dozen of evil faces, "Welcome, my devoted followers. Your actions to bring me back to my former state have been most admirable, however slow. Nevertheless, here we are and we have work to do. How long has it been since we were so awfully defeated at that school?"

"A year, my Lord," someone said sheepishly.

"Hm. I am, of course, disappointed. Our victory was meant to be absolute, was it not? And yet still, here we are. Losers. It will not happen again, am I clear? I will not be humiliated."

There was a murmur of agreement through the crowd.

"I have a considered our next actions and will need only those of you who are most loyal to meet again tomorrow in order to discuss them further. In the meantime, I need a wand. It will not do to be in this weakened state and completely defenceless. I expect one to be provided when we meet again. For now, nobody leaves this house. Destroy the fireplace and cut of thee Floo network. No one can join us."

She stormed out of the room, heart still pounding in her chest. She felt immensely guilty that her idea to send word to her family couldn't be set in motion until the next day but currently, there was no other way to do it. She'd have to wait and hope that no one was taking her apparent death too badly. She sat down at the desk in the corner of the room, got a quill, ink and parchment out of the drawer and wrote: "Fred, George and everyone else, I know you're all going to think this is a trick and can only ask that you believe me. Something went wrong with the ritual. I don't know how it happened or how to fix it, but somehow instead of bringing Voldemort back, they've transferred my soul into his body. Or something like that, I'm not really sure of how it works. I'm really scared and I don't know what to do so I need help. The person who you found this letter on shouldn't be trusted. I've sent him in as a spy for us so I can get this letter to you. Pretend you don't know about it for the sake of me but don't tell him anything important, just in case. I'm so sorry about what's happening but I'm trying to keep it under control until we can fix this. I hope you're all ok. I miss you loads and love you so, so much. From Bianca. P.S. Please don't bury my body, if you haven't already, I'm hoping I'll need it back soon."

She read and re-read the letter to make sure there wasn't anything else she needed to include and also to try and figure out a way to make them believe her. In the end, she resorted to scribbling one extra little note on the bottom of the parchment before she folded it up and hid it in her robes for safe keeping.

Her plan was to select someone to act as a spy for the Death Eaters and send them to Hogwarts under the pretence of needing healing. She'd tell the Death Eaters that this was to make sure they weren't surprised by any attacks when really it was to give herself a way of sending a note to her family. She'd slip the little letter into the man's robes in the desperate hope that someone would find it without the Death Eater getting it first. There'd be another letter there, one she'd write to help support the Death Eater's story so she had a reason to hand both over without suspicion. She had reasons ready to keep the Death Eaters from attacking anyone and hoped her excuses would last until help arrived. Until then, she could only wait.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Fred had never felt so miserable. He couldn't do anything without thinking about Bianca. Sleep, and he dreamt of her beautiful smiling face. Awake, he was either sitting staring at her body covered by a white cloth or somewhere else in the Hogwarts grounds thinking about what he'd done last time he'd been there with her. Of course, everyone who had taken base in the Hogwarts hospital wing was devastated, but Fred couldn't help but feel like everyone but him had someone to help them through it. Even George seemed to spend most of his time with Angie. Charlie had tried to reason with him and come up with possible explanations but Fred was too upset to listen. He'd tried to imagine that Bianca was still at Malfoy Manor and they just hadn't had time to go and rescue her yet. But with the amount of sitting around they were all doing now, it was difficult to convince himself of that. The members of the public that came in for healing were scarce now; most people were already admitted to either Hogwarts or St Mungo's.

It hadn't taken long for Fred to figure out that the most prominent felling he was experiencing was guilt. He couldn't help but think how different things would have been if they'd gone to Malfoy Manor as soon as they'd found Angie or even if he'd been there to help George when the girls had been kidnapped in the first place. He'd promised to look after her. He'd promised he would keep her safe. It was almost funny to think of how epically he'd failed at that. Bianca was dead and he hadn't done enough to save her. He'd known what the Death Eaters had wanted to do but still he'd left her at the flat in the company of two others who were sick and in no state to even look after themselves, let alone Bea as well. Fred had even joked that she spent too much of her life ill or injured. If only he'd known what was going to happen as soon as he'd left for his sister's.

George expressed a similar feeling of guilt on the odd occasion he'd spoken to his twin. It had been him, after all, who had been there when the Death Eaters took Bianca from the flat. Fred had told him sincerely that it wasn't his fault, that there was no way of preparing for what was going to happen but he knew that even hearing that wouldn't help. He had eventually come to reason that he must be a painful reminder to George in a similar way that Angie was to Fred. Every time he saw the poor girl, it reminded him of his relationship with Bianca. Presumably, as it had always been the three of them together, George couldn't see Fred without picturing Bianca with him and then only felt worse for letting them all down. He couldn't help but feel awful. George Weasley who had fought in a war and survived had been taken out by a simple stunning spell and done absolutely nothing while two of the most important people in his life had been kidnapped. Now one of them was dead and he had to watch his twin go through the worst few days of his life whilst also mourning himself.

Nobody tried to console the twins with words. Every so often someone would come over and give them a hug which would either be received with a curt nod or a fresh waterfall of tears, depending on who it was. Other people were dealing with it by throwing themselves into work as a distraction. Mrs Weasley really didn't know what to do with herself. She'd go from sobbing and wailing in the corner to rushing around looking after everyone in a matter of minutes. Ginny, Harry, Charlie and Hermione seemed devastated while Percy and Bill spent hours on end talking with everyone about plans to bring Voldemort down quickly. Sirius had vanished for a short while only to return with a single chocolate frog which he had placed on the pillow next to Bianca's head. This seemingly random to most and small gesture had sent both the twins into an uncontrollably distressed state for the rest of the day. Neither of them did anything to help the Order- in their mind, they'd already lost. The fact that neither of them were even in the mood to try and joke was heart-breaking enough without knowing the reason for it.

After two nights of very little sleep for Fred and George, both of them were itching to be anywhere except Hogwarts until, around mid-day someone arrived asking for help. Mrs Weasley had immediately taken the man's coat and sat him on a nearby bed, asking what symptoms he'd been experiencing. The twins had looked at each other from across the room, George sitting up straight and removing him arm from Angie's shoulders. Fred stood up, ripping his arm away when Lee tried to get him to stay down. They were alert because no one had been in for help for two days and no one had sent word of any of their friends or family members who needed help still.

"How did you know to come here?" Fred asked, his voice croaky and scratched from days of crying.

"I heard through a friend," the man replied, "It was a few days ago but I tried to find the thing myself. They explained everything in their letter about the little parasites but I didn't want to bother anyone. Figured you'd all be busy enough."

"Did your friend not also tell you the reason everyone's being kept here?" George prodded, his voice just as hoarse as his brother's.

"Boys," Mrs Weasley said, "There's no need to be so rude."

"It's alright," the man said, turning back to George, "What do you mean? Has something happened?"

Fred scoffed, "You're joking."

"Fred, mate, come on," Lee pulled him down onto his seat, hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Listen, I don't know what's going on," the man defended, with a cough, "The letter I got from my friend is in my coat still, I think. Everything I know is from that. You can read it if you like."

Immediately, George crossed the room, picked up the coat and dug around in the pockets to find an envelope. When he had it, he joined Fred in the other corner, kicking Lee out of his seat and forcing him to go and join the girls elsewhere. No one thought the twins were acting strangely- they'd been moody for days.

George prised open the envelope, confused that it seemed like it had never been opened. It was strange enough that it had been in an envelope to begin with. It was more of a muggle convention and wizards tended to just fold the parchment and seal it with wax. It was plausible that perhaps a muggleborn had sent the letter, but there was no seal to be broken and the parchment wasn't ripped at all. The boys scanned the letter. It seemed to be normal enough- all it contained was the words of someone begging their friend to come to the school for help. It stated that the writer has at St Mungo's for treatment but it was full there so it would be better if they went to Hogwarts. In fact, it was thoroughly believable until they saw who it was signed by. The person who had apparently written this note was sitting in the room, not a flicker of recognition on their face as they watched the new man remove his shirt. According to the parchment, Kyle Haywood had composed this letter but according to Fred and George, Kyle Haywood had never met the man in his life. If he'd been this desperate for his friend to come for help, surely there would have been some reaction. A sigh of relief or at least a welcoming hug. But there had been nothing. The twins shared a baffled look, and Fred was about to open his mouth to speak when George put his hand on his arm.

"There's something else in here," he said quietly, reaching back into the envelope and producing another folded piece of parchment with peculiarly had their names on it.

Fred frowned, and snatched the letter, opening it quickly. Simultaneously, the twins' jaws dropped and they looked horrified. They shot to their feet, shouted an excuse and ran, pushing through the crowds of people who had taken residence in the halls until they reached one of the secret passageways they had discovered all those years ago.

"What do you think?" George asked, as soon as the doorway was closed.

"It can't be true," Fred said, "Can it?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense," George said, "Think about it. There's a man who randomly shows up for help days after everybody else with a supposed letter from his friend which, to begin with, is dated today's date and is also apparently written by one of our mates who has clearly never seen the guy before in his life. Tell me, Fred, have you seen Kyle pick up a quill today or leave to send a letter?"

"No," Fred shook his head, "But-"

"No, listen," George continued, "We both know that letter had never been opened before. It wasn't even slightly creased from someone getting it out to read it. Come on, Fred, you know that handwriting, don't deny it."

"George, please," Fred's eyes looked broken.

"I know you don't want to get your hopes up, but it all makes sense. She even wrote, 'Don't forget to bring chocolate frogs if there's a fight'. Nobody knows about that joke except us, Sirius, Lupin and her. That's an awfully weird thing to write if this is staged. There is no other way for this all to make sense, Fred, admit it."

"We'll ask the Malfoys," Fred said, ignoring everything his brother had explained, "They'll know if he's a Death Eater."

"Fine," George sighed, "But we don't let him see them, just in case."

Fred nodded. His brain was buzzing, heart pounding at the prospect of Bianca being alive. He was terrified that it could all be a cruel prank or trick but George was right. It wouldn't add up if she wasn't the one responsible. He just wasn't ready to admit that yet. They found the Malfoys in one of the classrooms in the school being glared at by another family.

"Can we talk to you?" George addressed Narcissa while Fred gently asked the other family to leave.

Once they were alone, George handed over the letters and explained what had been going on. Lucius looked at them, trying not to look too disgusted, but the other two were happy to help the twins.

"Is it possible that it could be real?" Fred asked, "That she really could be alive?"

"Something could have gone wrong," Narcissa said slowly, "That's always a possibility with anything, especially unknown dark magic. It's plausible but, how she would have got time alone to write these, let alone actually carry out her plan, I couldn't tell you."

"We were wondering if there's any way you could look at the man who bought these," George said, "We thought maybe you could confirm whether he was a Death Eater or not."

Draco nodded, "They won't have sent anyone who was previously locked up- it would be too easy for someone to recognise them. It'll be someone who got away with it the first time."

"We don't want him to see you," George said, "Just in case. But we'll take you up to the hospital wing and you can peek in from outside."

When they reached the infirmary doors, George turned back to the blonde man, "I'll go in first and leave the door slightly open so you can see. Tell Fred if you know him and then you can go back. Is that alright."

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"Let us know if you need any more help with anything."

"Will do." George pushed the door open and re-joined his family. They all looked at him, obviously expecting Fred to follow. "He's coming," was all George said, trying to keep his voice steady and refusing to look over where Bianca's body lay. When Fred came into the room a few minutes later, he nodded at George who smiled slightly.

"We're sorry about how we behaved earlier," Fred said to the man, "We're all on guard at the minute."

Everyone snapped their head, surprised at how suddenly Fred's mood had changed but the man just smiled. "If you've been ill by yourself for so long without any help," Fred continued, "Maybe you'll want to freshen up a bit. I can show you to the bathrooms."

"Thank you, that would be great."

Fred nodded at George as he left who quickly gathered everyone, showed them the letters and explained everything they had learned.

"I didn't write that letter," Kyle said, "Promise."

He and Daisy looked excited at the prospect of having their friend back but they were two of the very few. Most people just looked sceptical.

"This is ridiculous," Percy said, "There is no way-"

"Perce, I've explained the proof. No one's saying anything for definite but-"

"Logically, there is no way that this could be real."

"There is," George insisted, "You're clever, you know about magic. Anything can go wrong if you don't know what you're doing. Clearly they didn't and now this has happened and we need to do something."

"George," Mr Weasley stepped towards his son, "I know what this looks like but please don't get prematurely excited. We all want her to be alive but when her body is-"

"Don't," George said, "We live in a world with magic and Lord Voldemort has just been bought back from the dead. Crazy, illogical things happen every single day. You go outside and grab a broomstick and you can fly if you want. Get your wand out, you could turn this table into an elephant. You know both of these things to be true but you can't accept that this might have happened. To you the possibility of transforming this piece of furniture into a giant mammal is more likely than someone having their soul transferred to another body. In fact, not only that but you think one of those things is completely impossible."

"George, calm down," Bill intervened, "He's only saying we should be careful."

"Of course, we should be careful. We're not stupid! We're basically at war again, so we are fully aware this could be fake, but currently, this is also the only way take Voldemort down."

"Except, if you're right, it's not Voldemort we need to worry about," Charlie said.

"Please, can we just do what the letter says for now? Until we have proof either way. Don't trust this guy with anything."

"What if we should?" Harry said, "He'll be reporting back to Bea, right? Should she not know what's going on?"

"Except he'll also be reporting back to all the Death Eaters and we can't risk them knowing. Until we can find a way to get to her directly, she has to stay in the dark."

"I have an idea," Sirius said excitedly, "Something to prove what to believe."

He quickly explained, and there was no doubting his idea was clever. The brief meeting dispersed after a few more minutes' discussion as Fred returned with the man.

"He's decided he wants to help us," Fred said, "I told him everything that's happened and he's eager to join.

"Excellent," Kingsley said, clapping his hands together, "Is there anyone you want to contact, by the way? You mentioned your friend who wrote to you?"

"I'll let them know I came in, if that's alright. They're at St Mungo's but I'm sure they'll be glad to know I stopped being so stubborn."

"Minerva could you find this gentleman some parchment and a quill, please?"

McGonagall nodded curtly and left the room briskly.

"Did I never introduce myself?" the man chuckled, "The name's Randall Lector."

Introductions took quite a while, considering the amount of people crammed into the Hospital Wing who had decided to be part of the Order. They were all previous members or friends of the Weasleys but crammed in the tiny Infirmary, it seemed like so many more. They had just filled the man in on the shortened version of Sirius' plan- there were parts which had to be included in Lector's letter which was sure to be going to Malfoy Manor, not St Mungo's- when McGonagall returned with some parchment, "I can have someone show you to the owlery. It is quiet there and you can use any of the owls to send your letter."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: This is the second last chapter! I know this is considerably shorter than book one and probably not as good, but I was in love with the characters without having a decent story-line apparently so I'm sorry if you haven't enjoyed it as much. Stay tuned for the final chapter at some point this week!

Chapter 11

Bianca sighed in relief when she read the letter from her spy and immediately summoned the Death Eaters again.

"I have word from our dear friend at the school," she began with a sneer, "They are forming a society against us. A few members of this 'order', as they call, it will be moving to a secret location for more space. Others will remain at the castle as protection. They won't be sending anyone back to their homes yet."

"Please, my, lord, where is this location?"

"Are you completely stupid, Rookwood? Is the meaning of 'stupid' lost in your tiny mind?"

"No, my lord, but last time, they had a building. It was impossible to find unless you knew where it was- under the Fidaleus charm."

"You are suggesting they would be bold enough to return?"

"My lord?"

"I assume you discovered this building's location and infiltrated it? Or was that yet another thing you failed to do?"

"No, my Lord, we could never get in. Only Yaxley-"

"Yaxley is dead," she interrupted, "Which means we can't find it again?" Internally this excited her. The Death Eaters never got into Grimmauld Place which meant she could go there still and see her family. Prove to them she was serious.

"No, my Lord."

She sent a curse in his direction, "Fools!" she took a minute to calm herself, "Carrow, Jugson, Nott, Rowle, you will accompany me to my chambers. The rest of you are dismissed but do not leave this house. Come."

When she had led the four men to the room she'd been staying in, she said, "You will patrol Hogsmeade village and the grounds around the school. I will be sending out other teams to the hospital and, if any of you are competent enough to remember, the surroundings of this secret location. I myself will be accompanying you and alternating between you all. I learnt last year that none of you are to be trusted alone to do what I expect. Go. And if you see anything at all, inform me immediately."

She selected another group to go to St Mungo's and told them the same thing- only watch. Don't take any actions and don't hurt anyone and don't be seen. Once she had sent them away as well, she apparated to Hogsmeade, made a point of staying for a while under the pretence of not trusting the Death Eaters to do as she had told, and then moved to the street outside St Mungo's where she did the same. Of course, she hadn't really sent patrol to Grimmauld place. After all, if she had, how would she be able to sneak in?

When she arrived on the quiet street, hood of her robes pulled up, she took a deep breath and imagined the house appearing. Part of her hoped that someone had arrived there already so she would have the chance to speak to them face to face. The rest of her couldn't help but think how strange it would be for them to have a personal conversation with Lord Voldemort and hoped she'd be alone to leave a note. She knew Harry had been helping Sirius and Lupin restore the house over the past year which had included fixing all of the protective charms but thankfully, number 12 still appeared in the non-existent gap between 11 and 13. She smiled to herself and stepped up to the door, pushing it open and quickly shutting it behind her before she was spotted.

Quietly, she tip-toed down the hall- something she imagined would look hilarious to anyone else but stopped in her tracks when she saw two men in the kitchen wands raised wearily.

"Ah, my faithful servant," she joked, "It was been a while."

"My Lord," Sirius Black mock bowed, "I am so glad to finally join you again. I have them all fooled, they think I am on their side."

"Oh this is weird," Lupin said from next to his friend, ignoring their jokes, "Sirius thinks that the fact you got in to the building is proof enough but-"

"You want me to prove I'm not who I look like?" Bianca assumed, "I don't have any facts ready about myself but I thought my wit might be enough to convince you? I didn't think Voldemort's known for his comedy act."

"I didn't think Bianca was either," Sirius said.

"Wounded," she said, "Truly wounded."

Lupin still looked wary and asked, "Look I'm sorry, but I have to be sure. What words do you speak to open the Marauder's Map and what happens when you do so?"

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Bianca replied easily, "And it shows you a detailed map of Hogwarts and where every person in the school is. Fred, George and I found it in Filch's office in our first year and have added to it as we found more secret passages. You two made it with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew when you were at school and boy, is it useful for sneaking around at night. Is that satisfactory?" she asked with a soft smile.

"Definitely," Sirius didn't even let Lupin reply, "I'd love to hug you, but-"

"It's fine, I get it. Are you the only ones here?"

"We didn't think your family would really want to see you, er, like this. We decided we'd speak to you, pretending we're scouting the place out. And then go back to get some of the others."

"I've not got much time," she said, "I've got a lovely family to get back to. I've got them under control, for now. I'm stopping them from doing anything that could put people at risk. They're all kept at Malfoy Manor at all times and I'm on top of everything."

"What's your spy about then?"

"I needed to get word to you somehow. He was the only way I could think of. It'll be useful, though, it's proved to be so far. Listen, please can you try and figure out a way to reverse this? I can't stay in this body, I need to be back with you."

"Technically right now it's better having you there," Lupin said, "It's a way of ensuring that we stay safe. You're in charge of them."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd definitely prefer to be with you than the Death Eaters."

"You can't just disappear. That would look weird."

Bianca sighed, "How are Fred and George?"

"A mess," Sirius said honestly, "I don't think you really want to know what they were like when they thought you were dead, to be honest. They don't seem to know what to think now."

"When you go back, tell them I miss them."

"Do you want me to give them a kiss, as well?"

Bianca stuck her tongue out and Sirius burst out laughing, "I can't believe what is happening right now. The Dark Lord just stuck his tongue out at me like a three-year-old."

The spent the next few minutes quickly exchanging any other information they thought might be necessary for each other to know and then Bianca said she'd have to go.

"Please make sure there's always someone here," she said, "I won't be able to come often but if I do, it'll be because I need to speak to someone. If you learn anything at all about fixing this, please let me know somehow. Through Lector, if you can, I suppose. It was great to see a friendly face."

"Good luck." The men saw her to the door and watched as Voldemort disappeared.

"Remus," Sirius said, "How did all of this come just from making friends with James at Hogwarts?"

"Ah, what has proved to be both our best and worst decision so far in life. Come on, let's go get some people to move in to this miserable place."

Getting Lector to stay at Hogwarts turned into quite a task. He seemed desperate to accompany them to Grimmauld place and coming up with excuses that didn't seem suspicious was very difficult. Of course, everyone knew the reason for him being so persistent but couldn't admit that so had to pretend that newer members were being asked to stay at the school. For the sake of this seeming believable, Daisy, Kyle, Angie, Lee, Alicia and Katie were also all told to stay at Hogwarts. This also caused issues with Angie wanting to stay with George but Fred had been very quick to remind her quite rudely that he'd be there.

When Sirius and Remus returned to the infirmary, Fred immediately turned to them, pulling them to one side, "Was she- er- he- er- you know- was-"

"Yes," Sirius smirked, "We spoke to her. Weirdest experience of my life, I'll tell you that, but she has everything under control."

"So we're gonna help her?" George said, "Now we know for certain."

"We'll see," Lupin said, clapping the twins on the back and then turning to address everyone loudly, "It's clear. We can move in. The charms are all still up and there's no sign that anyone's been there."

It was quickly decided that the Weasleys, along with Kingsley, Neville and Luna would be squeezing into Grimmauld place. People were free to come and go but they were careful to only refer to the house as 'headquarters' when Lector was there. It was a relief to get to the house and be able to talk openly with each other.

"We need to find out as much as we can about what the Death Eaters did," Mr Weasley said when they were gathered in the little kitchen and the kettle was boiling happily, "We've got no chance otherwise."

"We should talk to the Malfoys again," Bill suggested, "They're our best bet at the minute."

Once they had been joined by the blonde family, Harry asked, "Please, just tell us anything you know. Anything at all."

"I can tell you the entire ritual they performed," Lucius said, "But that won't help you know how to reverse it."

"Please, just tell us. We can work on it."

Together, the three explained everything and Hermione furiously took notes.

"I think you need to start with the horcrux," Draco said, "Get rid of that."

"Hang on," Charlie said, "That doesn't make sense. The horcrux was meant to hold part of Voldemort's soul, right? For safety? But seeing as Bianca is Voldemort, would that not mean if we destroy that box, we're destroying part of her?"

"Unfortunately," Kingsely said, "There's no way to know for sure. All we can do is speculate and then come to the conclusion we think is best."

"We can ask her, can't we?" Ginny suggested, "She's bound to know more than us."

"Not necessarily. The spell didn't go right, that's the whole point. So nobody can know for definite how to put it back."

Bill sighed, "This is exactly why people shouldn't experiment with magic."

"I reckon we should just try. Get her here, we can do exactly what the Death Eaters did but just switch the bodies so it's hers that's getting life back. If we can do it the same, then surely it'll work."

"And if it doesn't?" Fred asked, "If we fail, she dies. For real, this time. No coming back from it. You expect us to be ok with that?"

"But why would it fail? We just have to replicate everything and it'll be fine."

"It failed the first time, didn't it?" Fred pointed out.

"That's the point. We need to make sure it doesn't work properly this time again."

"But it's not safe," Hermione said, "Fred's right. If this doesn't happen how we want it to, we're not getting Bianca back."

"We can't leave her with them either. The longer she's there, the higher the chance that either she gets found out or the Death Eaters decide not to wait any longer and start attacking," Harry argued.

"I think we should let her decide," Charlie said.

"What, so if something goes wrong, we can't blame ourselves?"

"No, so she can decide for herself. We shouldn't be the ones to dictate how this goes. It's her life that's on the line."

"When we spoke to her," Sirius said, "She seemed very eager to get back to us as quickly as she could."

"But did she understand the risks that she would be taking to do that? Not only could she die, but suddenly dozens of Death Eaters are left free to do whatever they please."

"Bianca's, never done anything without taking a risk," Harry said.

"I can think of someone who can relate to that," Fred chuckled.

Harry smirked, "Yeah, well. The point is, she knows she can't even go outside without being in danger. Just existing is practically life-threatening for her. But we all know she's not scared of dying. How many times has she nearly been killed now?"

"Too many," Draco said and everyone snapped their heads to look at him, "I think you should all know this. But know I tried to stop her, really, I did. See, she wasn't going to put Voldemort's body back together when the Death Eaters told her to. She knew they couldn't do it without her so was going to just outright refuse. She thought she'd just die either way and thought it would be easier for you all to take down the Death Eaters without Voldemort being alive."

"She was going to let them just kill her?" George asked.

Draco nodded, "She was basically dead anyway. You should have seen the state they kept her in." He shivered at the thought.

"So, what happened?" Ron asked.

"They used me," Malfoy said simply, "Said that if she didn't do it, they'd kill me too. I really did tell her not to do it, insisted it wouldn't be worth it. She wouldn't listen. And I don't know what to feel, really. Guilty because it's my fault he's back or better because at least Bianca's alive?"

"It's not your fault," Mr Weasley said, "It was never your choice."

Draco nodded, "Whatever I can do to help now to make up for it, I will."

"We need to know how many people were casting the incantation when we broke in," Kingsley said, "If this is the plan we decided to go for, then we have to keep everything the same."

"I'll make a list. Everyone should have been there. Give me a day or two to make sure I don't forget anyone," Lucius offered.

"We need to get word to Bea," Fred said, "So we can get her decision."

"We'll wait until we have the list from Lucius. Just to give her some time. It would be suspicious if we keep trying to contact her."

"Well," Mrs Weasley said, "While we wait, why don't we go and get some things from home? We've been living in a few pairs of robes for a week, now."

The twin's faces took on a darkened expression. Neither of them really fancied going back to flat where it was full of memories of Bianca. They knew there was a chance to get her back but when the last time they'd seen her she'd been a corpse, they didn't really fancy going back without her. Fred had sat back in his seat and covered his face with his hands.

"I'll go," George said quietly to him, "You don't have to."

"Will you be alright?" Fred asked, not complaining about his brother's offer, despite knowing it wasn't easy for George either.

George nodded, "Yeah. I'll just pretend you're out on a date, or something. I'll be fine."

Fred nodded, suddenly devastated that he might never take Bianca out on a date ever again. He'd never been so desperate just to take someone out for a meal.

George seemed to realise the effect of his words and said, "Sorry mate, I just-"

"No, it's alright. Please don't take too long."

George nodded solemnly and patted his twin on the shoulder. Once most people had vanished to go and collect some of their belongings, Fred was left with just Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Teddy. Tonks had just gone upstairs to put the baby down for a nap and Sirius had gone to set up beds for everyone that was now staying in the house.

"You must think I'm a bit pathetic," Fred chuckled, looking at Remus across the kitchen table, "I mean, you once lost four of your best friends in one day."

Lupin studied him carefully, processing what he had said, "That day was the hardest day of my life, and that includes the day that I was- you know." he gestured vaguely to the scars across his face, "But the circumstances were completely different. I hadn't grown up with them from a baby and spent every single day with them. Losing James was like losing a brother and thinking that Sirius had betrayed us all was heart breaking. Even so, we could never had been as close as you were with Bianca. In some ways, what's happened to her is worse than what happened to James and Lily. Their death at least meant the end of the first war. This is like the beginning of the third. None of this is pathetic, Fred. You love Bianca and have every right to be upset about what's happened. What you shouldn't feel, however, is guilty. It is not your fault. If it wasn't for you, all of those people staying at Hogwarts would still be ill in their homes. You saved thousands of people."

"But look what happened!" Fred said, "Voldemort's alive, the Death Eaters are all free. All those people I helped saved could die anyway."

"And you still think it's your fault? Fred, if it wasn't for you everyone in London would still be lying helplessly at home and be completely vulnerable to attack. You've given us the chance to prepare, to do something to fight back. Because of you, this isn't over."

"I don't even know why I never got ill. It's like the things were allergic to me."

"We'll figure it out," Remus promised, "In the meantime, don't be ashamed to show your feelings. I know you must miss her."

"It's so hard," Fred said, "I never thought I'd feel like this. George and I have always been so happy and like to smile all the time. But now literally everything makes me miss her. Seeing George with Angie," he laughed dryly, "Merlin, even seeing mum and dad makes me remember that I wanted to marry her one day. Going to bed at night makes me think about how she should be there next to me and going around without being able to turn around and make her smile is just so-" he stopped and shook his head, "It's so unlike me to even think any of this, let alone say it and it's so sappy but I just want her back."

"You're coping with it differently to George," Lupin noted, "You want to turn to him but he's turned to Angie."

Fred nodded, "It's scary."

"We're going to do everything we can to get her back, preferably in her own body."

Fred laughed, "Yeah, I'm not sure I'm quite up to sharing a room with Voldemort."

From then on, Fred stuck to George like a limpet. He didn't want to be by himself and now that Angie wasn't around all the time, George had a similar attitude to his twin. They moved between Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts, all too aware that there were Death Eaters constantly outside the building. They spent their private time in Grimmauld place discussing ways to get to Bianca and their time at the school talking about how to take down Voldemort. They'd made sure everyone in the order know that Lector wasn't to be trusted with certain information and let him send letters back and forth to Malfoy Manor easily. He was an awful spy, always having a suspicious look on his face and asking a multitude of questions then scurrying away to report back. In a way, they were thankful. At least it meant Bianca would be up to date with everything.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This is it! The final chapter! Thank you anyone who read these stories! I hope you enjoyed :D

Chapter 12

A week after they first moved into Grimmauld place, Lucius Malfoy had provided a list of every Death Eater that was residing in his house and they were all huddled around the kitchen table when suddenly, the front door burst open and Lord Voldemort stumbled into the house. He ran into the kitchen and slammed his hands down on the table, "Please, tell me you have a plan. I've run out of excuses to hold them back. They're planning on advancing on the hospital this afternoon."

Everyone stared at the new arrival in complete shock. When Sirius and Lupin had said it was weird to talk to Voldemort like a friend, they hadn't quite anticipated this. Fred coughed awkwardly and excused himself. George tried to smile but, understandably, ended up grimacing nervously then followed his brother. An expression of sadness and longing which had probably never been seen in the Dark Lord's eyes appeared as his head turned to watch them go.

"Can't you stop them?" Sirius asked, returning the conversation to the Death Eaters.

"I tried. But I have to keep up appearances and I couldn't think of a good enough reason in time."

"We'll send word to the hospital now, make sure they're ready. We'll have to go and fight," Mr Weasley said, looking cautiously at Voldemort, "I'll go to the school now and warn everyone."

"What about me?" the words sounded strange coming from Lord Voldemort's mouth, "I can't go back there, they're suspicious. Please. Let me stay with you. You have a way to fix this right?"

"We have an idea," Lupin said, "But it's so risky. It might not work. You could die."

"Oh, where have I heard that before?" he laughed, "Look, I'm desperate here, I can't keep this up any more. I've slipped up, they've questioned me and now they're going against me."

"So what? Instead you want to show up to a fight where they'll all be there and have them kill you on the spot?"

Bianca ignored them, "What's your plan?"

"We want to recreate what they did in the first place. Same amount of people, same spell, same cut off point. Hopefully because it went wrong the first time, it'll go wrong again."

"Right," Bianca surprised everyone with her enthusiasm, "How many people do you need and how many does that leave to go and fight?"

"Twenty six is the number of Death Eaters they had."

"And then how many people can go to St Mungo's?"

"Five," someone said sadly, "Assuming everyone would be willing to help somehow."

"I can send some aurors as well," Kingsley said.

"That's enough," Bill said, "We don't need loads, otherwise it'll be suspicious. Remember Lector has to be one of the ones to go and fight. We can't let him know what we're doing and if he goes with a big group, he could question it."

"Ok, so we send Lector with four others to the hospital under the pretence that they're just doing patrols of places which are at risk. "

"We'll come to help at the Manor," Draco said, signalling to his parents.

"Sort this out later," Bianca said, "I can't stay long. I'll go back now and make sure there are no Death Eaters left in the house."

"Don't send them all to the hospital, though," Charlie said, "There'll only be five of us there remember, and I don't think Lector will be putting his best effort in."

Voldemort's head nodded, "Don't worry. Once they're all gone, I'll go down and make sure everything is set up in the basement. You can meet me there. Oh, and don't forget my, erm, my body." A grimace was an odd expression to see on the Dark Lord's face.

"Someone go and get Fred and George," Mrs Weasley said once Bianca/ Voldemort had left, "We need them here now."

Charlie quickly ran from the room to retrieve the twins and everyone filled them in on what happened. Fred said nothing, but George immediately said they'd help at the hospital. They had, of course, been listening to the whole conversation with extendable ears, but couldn't bear to sit in the room. They'd quickly and silently discussed what they wanted to do before Charlie had come to get them and both agreed on the same thing. They couldn't face disappointment again. Their family was slightly surprised at their decision but didn't confront them.

"Ok, then you two can take Lector, Kyle and Daisy to the hospital. They both work there so it might be less suspicious for them to be around. You'll have a team of aurors too. Prepare yourselves to fight," Kingsley said, "Everyone else, stay here until I come back to get you. There's no point everyone going to the school now. It'll look odd. I'll take the boys, brief everyone and then return."

As soon as Bianca got back to Malfoy Manor, she gathered the Death Eaters and addressed them.

"I have taken some time to think everything over," she said, "And have come to a conclusion. You were, admittedly, right. Taking things too cautiously won't result in anything. I was wrong to think I should be controlling everything in such a way that we achieve nothing. I should have listened. It was, after all, you that survived the last war, not I. For that reason, I have decided to attack. We start taking action now. We will launch two attacks today. Our numbers are still small so do not take any risks. Half of you will go to their little hospital. Don't try to get in but wait for them to come out else risk being overwhelmed. We'll start small, so don't cause too much damage today: soon we will have built up to an unstoppable force. The rest of you will go to the little village Hogsmeade. Damage the buildings and make a mark. Make sure they know you were there. We shall make our comeback gradually until we have more to support us. Divide yourselves up quickly and go."

"And, what, my Lord, are your intentions?"

"I will be following up on contacts," she replied with a glare.

"Will you need assistance?"

"What I need is for you to do as I tell you. How dare you question me!" she sent a sharp, well-aimed curse at him, causing the Death Eater to cry out in agony. "Now, go, all of you. Cause damage but remember this is not a battle you need to win. That is not what this is about. Give them something to fear."

She watched with her head raised high while the Death Eaters left in their groups, hoping they wouldn't hurt anyone too badly. Assuming the order's plan went as expected, it should mean they would all be easy to round up by aurors once they'd put Bianca back into her right body. As soon as she was sure everyone had left the house, she practically ran down to the basement where she put everything together exactly how it was previously. She rushed to get the little horcrux box and placed it on the side table, attaching the tubes to it in the same place they had been last time.

From then, she could only wait impatiently. When her friends and family finally arrived she addressed them, not at all surprised that neither of the twins were there, "As soon as you have done the spell, destroy the box and make sure he's dead. Promise me you'll do that before you come to help me."

Everyone looked nervous as Bill and Charlie gently laid Bianca's body onto the table in the centre of the room and attached the strange tubes to her after uncovering her face. Bianca then stood against the board she had been strapped to the last time and allowed Harry and Neville to do up the binding.

"Are you all ready?" Kingsley asked to room.

There was a chorus of murmurs, accompanied by nodding. Bianca took a deep breath, preparing herself for the pain she knew was to come. The Order then began chanting, wands raised and eyes fixed on Lucius Malfoy, ready to stop the second he commanded them to. It was scary to think how much pressure was resting on one man, but there was simply no other way.

As Bianca remembered, the pain came instantly. She screamed and wailed, trying her hardest to at least lessen the noise so as not to distract her loved ones.

Lucius had never been so focused on something in his life. He didn't really care that much for the girl, but knew that was he was doing was right so continued for the right amount of time, waiting until the moment the enchantment had been stopped when the Death Eaters attempted it. When they reached that point, he lowered his wand and shouted above everyone as loudly as he could. Instantly, the chanting ceased and 26 pairs of eyes turned with baited breath to the body in the middle of the room. After a few seconds which seemed to last hours, her hand twitched and a soft groan came from her lips. Immediately, Harry came forward, grasping the sword of Gryffindor and stabbed it through the centre of the little box. In the corner of the basement, Voldemort's body stopped its' previous convulsions and stilled.

"Check he's dead," Kingsley called to Remus who happened to be closest.

Cautiously, the man did so, breathing a huge sigh of relief when their hopes were confirmed, "He's dead."

Everyone rushed to Bianca's side. Madame Pomfrey had taken the liberty of healing the body completely so that the girl wouldn't have to battle through any ailments while she recovered. A few minutes of everyone nervously watching the body wince and moan passed before Bianca's eyes flew open and she sat up straight. Looking over herself.

"It worked!" she cried happily, running her hands through her hair and then holding her arms out in front of her, "It worked!"

Mrs Weasley was, of course, the first to wrap her in a hug, sobbing desperately and holding the girl tightly, "Never," she sniffled, "I won't let you out of my sight ever again."

It took hours before they left. Everyone welcomed Bianca back happily and many tears were streaming down everyone's faces. It felt unbelievably good to have control of her own limbs once more and not look like an evil wizard.

"Fright of my life, I got when Bill told me," Charlie had said, "I'll never forgive you."

"I am so sorry!" Angie had cried, "I shouldn't have let them make me leave you here alone!"

Once she had greeted everyone, they then had to make sure Voldemort's body could not be revived in any way. They had set fire to it and the rest of the basement- after the Malfoy's permission- and left the house. Half of them went to St Mungo's to help there and round up those Death Eaters and the remaining group went to Hogsmeade to arrest the Death Eaters there. Bianca opted to go to Hogsmeade, not wanting to cause a distraction to the twins if they were in battle. That job took the remainder of the day. They had to be sure that no one had been missed and then repair the damage done to the village. Then, the group had traipsed back to the castle, Bill and Charlie flanking Bianca on either side, and gone around he entire building, telling everyone it was safe for them to return to their homes- the Dark Lord was dead for good.

The Death Eaters had been outraged and, obviously, completely shocked. They had all been tricked from the very start and publically made to look like fools. They were taken to Azkaban where extra security measures were taken and would be trialled as soon as the rest of the community had been settled back into their houses and the wizards were starting to get everything running again. Once the school was emptied- the students were given a week off to recover from the events- the part of the Order which had been in Hogsmeade returned to Grimmauld place where they anxiously awaited the arrival of everyone else.

Bianca couldn't stand still. She was so excited to see the twins walk through the door, that she was constantly pacing or wringing her hands while she waited. Finally, the door opened and the first two people in the house were tall ginger twins with eyes wide with joy. Bianca had never grinned so widely as she ran towards them and leapt into their arms. All three of them burst into tears while Bianca leant up to kiss Fred passionately and George spun her around and around in his arms.

"Just so you know," George said, unable to hide his smile, "We've never hated you so much."

"I'll make it up to you," Bianca promised, still safely in Fred's arms, "I love you so much. So, so much."

"We love you too."

Weeks after the events at Malfoy Manor when everything was beginning to get back to normal, Fred was sitting at the kitchen counter in the flat, studying his mug of tea, "There's one thing I still don't understand."

"Only one?" George asked, "Well, you're certainly doing better than me. The whole thing's a mystery in my mind."

"What is it?" Angie asked from the stove where she and Bianca were attempting to cook dinner.

"Why did I never get sick?" Fred said pensively, "I was the only one. I literally repelled the little bugs."

"I have a guess," Bea said, "But I might be wrong. I think when I healed you last year, I did it a bit too well. I mean you haven't even had so much as a cold since I healed you and lost all my powers."

"You think I'm immune to getting sick?" Fred asked, "Wicked."

"It would make sense," George pointed his spoon at his twin, "It's either that or you just smell really bad."

Bianca snorted, "Either way, it's a good thing you didn't get sick. You saved everyone." She turned around and kissed him on the cheek, "You're a hero."

"Hear that, Georgie? I'm a hero."

"Yeah. We'll call you Captain Disease-less."

Fred laughed. They were all enjoying being able to laugh again. Freely and carelessly and knowing there wasn't anything awful about to happen to them. Fred had originally attached himself to Bianca's side, spending every free minute with her, unable and unwanting to hide his elation at having her back safe and alive.

Slowly but surely, life for wizarding Britain returned to normal. The muggles who had been sick were cured too and the events were quickly forgotten.

A few months later when Fred came down with the flu, however, Captain Disease-less was proclaimed defeated and was teased mercilessly for years to come.


End file.
